Planned Parenthood.

[nonethefewer]

A brief note – if you're poly or bi or otherwise not-normal-by-societal-standards, and you need services that're provided by Planned Parenthood, I recommend the one at SE 50th and Franklin.  I went in for STI testing, since I'm dating someone new and I hadn't done it in a while.

• Their intake form has things like "What pronoun do you prefer?" and "What is your biological (at birth) sex?", which is amazing.  There may be better ways to phrase those that I'm not aware of, but they're a far cry from "Mr. or one of the three different titles for women" / "Male/Female", respectively.
• There's a sign on the wall next to the check-in desk that has "If you need an interpreter, please point to your language and one will be provided" in… 20? or thereabouts languages.  And it's not just for show: a family came in and requested Spanish, and the check-in person switched to fairly decent Spanish.
• The doctor was considerate – she helped me feel as comfortable as could be expected, she could tell when I was getting tense and checked to see whether I was okay ("I just get jumpy, it's a known issue"), and we had a nicely distracting conversation about the fact that they had a poster of the beach on the ceiling.
• …they had a poster of the beach on the ceiling.  I am still cracking up about that.
• No one batted an eyelash about my being poly or bi.  The lab person had to ask a new set of questions (aside from the intake form), since I was getting an HIV test done.  (Negative, by the way – woo!)T: How long have you been with your current partner?
  X: … Partners.  About 4 years each.
  T: *writes "4 years each" on the form*
  X: Heh.  I was worried it'd be weird…
  T: *laughs*  Nah, we've pretty much seen it all.
  X: Yeah, Portland, right?

  In fact, one question was whether I had a support structure, I suppose in case the result was positive.  I said ayuh, heh, the folk I'm dating.  She said that's definitely a huge benefit to dating multiple people.

  Yee!

Overall, a very pleasant visit to the local PP.  I approve, and am recommending them to (local) others.

Originally posted at Xtinian Thoughts.  Comment here or there.