WEST JORDAN, Utah — Since 2003, the third week of March has been recognized as National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week, with “vital and vibrant voices” as this year’s theme.
FOX 13 had the opportunity to speak with two of these voices who are making big inroads into how the queer community experiences and accesses healthcare.
Vitae Chiropractic in West Jordan is a newer business to the healthcare landscape in Utah.
Earlier this month, owner Dr. Crystal Glaser celebrated its one year anniversary.
"It was really important for me to be out, and authentic, and not have to hide who I was," said Dr. Glaser, though she admits it wasn't always easy.
Dr. Glaser didn’t come out about her sexuality until she was 22, but believes it would’ve happened sooner if she had been exposed to more people from the queer community in her day-to-day life.
That includes receiving healthcare from doctors who are either part of the LGBTQ+ community, or those who had more awareness of their needs.
"There’s a lot of social bias here in Utah, that we’re growing out of," she said.
Dr. Glaser is now intentional about being part of this ongoing change, using her knowledge and understanding of the LGBTQ+ population to her advantage as a chiropractor.
"We maybe don’t consider there being differences between somebody who is straight, somebody who is gay, somebody who is cis, somebody who is trans, but the traumas that we’ve experienced, can manifest themselves in our body," she explained.
Aside from treating patients, Dr. Glaser places a big emphasis on getting the word out about her newer practice.
This includes regularly attending LBGTQ + Chamber of Commerce meeting and listing Vitae Chiropractic on the Everywhere is Queer smartphone app.
Founder Charlie Sprinkman of Portland, Oregon launched the app at the end of February.
After college, he traveled the country and found it was tough to find queer owned businesses.
So he decided to create something that did just that.
"I was thinking, how could I create a resource that will allow the queer, trans, and allied community to be able to navigate throughout our world, whether that be globally or locally as their true authentic selves," he said.
Sprinkman says the app currently has 11,500 queer-owned businesses of all sizes listed, many of which are healthcare companies.
He says that "every single person in the world deserves fair health care," but this holds especially true for people who are queer or trans.
Both Brinkman and Dr. Glaser are working to expand their businesses, especially to inspire younger generations.
Dr. Glaser knows young people seek validation.
"Validating who people are, validating their gender representation, those are all things that I hope to represent here in the office."
Find Everywhere is Queer here and on TikTok & Instagram @everywhereisqueer.
