Andrea Zekis with the Arkansas Trans Equality Coalition announced today that the group has received a $15,000 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in Washington D.C. The grant will be used to research ways to better serve the medical needs of the trans community in Arkansas, in partnership with the UAMS Fay W. Boozman School of Public Health in Little Rock. Trans people — especially those who live in far-flung corners of the state — often face significant obstacles when trying to gain access to healthcare and find healthcare providers sympathetic to and knowledgeable about their needs. 

“National studies have shown half of transgender persons have had to educate their providers about their health care, but when it comes to research, transgender persons can find themselves more often subjects, not drivers or collaborators of the work, so why not empower them to lead,” said Zekis in a statement attached to a press release about the grant. “This PCORI award presents a never before heard of opportunity in Arkansas and rare opportunity nationally to have transgender and gender non-conforming persons statewide work side by side with researchers on an issue so vital to their well-being.”

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For more information about the Arkansas Trans Equality Coalition, visit their Facebook page or the ARTEC home page