LGBTQ+ Health
Keck Medicine of USC provides personalized and compassionate care for the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ+ Health
Keck Medicine of USC provides personalized and compassionate care for the LGBTQ+ community.
Inclusive, Patient-centered Care
Keck Medicine of USC is proud of the diversity of our staff, faculty, students, patients and families. We strive to be a trusted leader in quality health care that is personalized, compassionate and innovative for the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning) community.
Read about our non-discrimination policy here.
LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader Designation
For many years, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, has designated Keck Medical Center of USC — which consists of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center — and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital as LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leaders.
The HRC’s Healthcare Equality Index reviews the information and resources health care facilities provide to help ensure that LGBTQ+ people have access to nondiscriminatory, patient-centered care. The report is used to applaud facilities that have shown their commitment to LGBTQ+ patient-centered care, with scores based on the services and programs offered to the LGBTQ+ community. We are proud to have participated in the Healthcare Equality Index since 2015, and to have many of our efforts recognized as national best practices.
Download the most recent Healthcare Equality Index Report on their website.
Our Policies
You have the right to receive personalized and compassionate health care without discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression and to designate your partner, child or any individual as a visitor, regardless of legal recognition.
Restroom Access
All Keck Medicine patients, staff and visitors may use the restroom that matches their gender identity, regardless of whether they are making a gender transition or appear to be gender nonconforming. Harassment of patients, staff and visitors for using restrooms in accordance with their gender identity will not be tolerated. All-gender restrooms are located in all buildings.
Advance Health Care Directives
We respect and honor our patients’ wishes with regard to their medical treatment. We strive to ensure that these wishes are carried out if a patient should be unable to communicate directly with their health care team. Patients can appoint almost any adult over the age of 18 to be their agent. An agent can be a family member, a spouse, a same-sex or domestic partner, an adult child, a friend or a trusted individual.
Click here to read our brochure on advance health care directives.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Patients’ medical records and health information are protected by the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, including information related to a person’s LGBTQ+ status. Information about a patient’s sexual orientation and gender identity is an essential part of a person’s medical history and relevant to the provision of health care. Patients have the right to have their personal privacy respected and to have confidential treatment of all communications and records of care. Providers will not disclose personal health information to others — including family and friends — without the patient’s consent.
Names and Pronouns
When you visit Keck Medicine for health care, you will be addressed and referred to by your self-identified gender, using your pronouns and name in use, regardless of your appearance, surgical history, legal name or sex assigned at birth.
We invite any patient to request a name or pronoun change update in our electronic health record system. You can initiate this request with a member of your care team. In addition, patients checking in using Tonic will be able to select their pronouns and enter a preferred name/nickname, which will reflect in your chart.
Keck Pride
Keck Pride is the LGBTQ+ employee inclusion resource group across Keck Medicine and the Keck School of Medicine of USC. We are comprised of staff, faculty and students from across our health system, including Keck Hospital of USC, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, USC Arcadia Hospital, USC Ambulatory Care Clinics, USC Student Health, the Keck School of Medicine and more.
Our mission is to encourage and develop an inclusive and supportive space for members of the LGBTQ+ community throughout the Keck Medicine health system, including our clinical and academic settings. We respect, value and celebrate the diverse, intersectional identities and experiences of our faculty, staff, students and patients. We strive to create a culture where the LGBTQ+ community feels a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Keck Pride’s priorities uphold USC’s unifying values of integrity, excellence, diversity, equity, inclusion, well-being, open communication and accountability.
Our objectives:
- Provide social events, community, peer support and connection for LGBTQ+ employees and members of Keck Pride
- Serve in an advisory role for LGBTQ+-related initiatives, strategic goals and patient care best practices to create a great place to provide and receive care
- Support LGBTQ+ health education, activism and awareness
- Develop and strengthen partnerships with local LGBTQ+ community organizations
- Encourage professional development, recruitment and mentorship of LGBTQ+ people
- Keck Medicine staff can visit the Keck Pride intranet site by clicking here. (Site requires staff log-in.)
Our Services
Gender-Affirming Care Program
Our USC Gender-Affirming Care Program specialists provide a full range of gender-affirming primary care and transition-related health care services for transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse patients. We focus on understanding your unique medical needs and delivering the right health services when you need them. Visit the program page to learn more about our services or email us at KeckGenderCare@med.usc.edu.
Positive Care
Our USC Positive Care Program provides a full spectrum of treatments focusing on the needs of patients living with HIV and AIDS. Our multidisciplinary approach uniquely positions us to care for patients living with HIV. Our patients can receive HIV primary care, medical specialty care and surgical specialty services, all in the same place. Visit the program page to learn more about our services.
Lifestyle Redesign for Gender Affirmation
For many transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, accessing the activities that affirm your gender and help you feel like yourself can be challenging. With the added barriers to engaging in gender-affirming activities, you may feel isolated, dysphoric and unsafe, all of which may have an impact on your mental and emotional well-being. The Lifestyle Redesign® for Gender Affirmation at USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice can help.
In this program, occupational therapists support you in identifying variable and unique strategies that will help you address gender dysphoria, optimize participation in gender-affirming routines and maximize your safety and health. Through a holistic, collaborative approach, our team provides an individualized plan that allows you to self-reflect, problem-solve and integrate new skills and strategies into your daily routines, helping empower you to affirm your gender in a safe and meaningful way. Visit the program page to learn more about these services.
LGBTQ+ Family-building
USC Fertility proudly provides same-sex and transgender family-building options. We offer state-of-the art LGBTQ fertility treatments at our Los Angeles fertility center to make parenthood possible. Some of the most commonly used options include intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg and sperm donation, and gestational surrogacy. Visit the program page to learn more about these services.
Community Events and Partnerships
Keck Medicine is proud of our ongoing commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. We have developed and nurtured relationships with community partners, along with sponsoring and participating in local LGBTQ+ events. We are committed to showing up for and building trust with the communities we serve.
- AIDS/LifeCycle
- Keck Medicine has been the Medical Sponsor for AIDS/LifeCycle since 2020.
- AIDS Walk Los Angeles
- Keck Medicine has sponsored the AIDS Walk annually since 2019.
- Latino Equality Alliance (LEA)
- We have been a partner of LEA since 2017.
- We created the Keck Medicine of USC Scholarship for LGBTQ+ students pursuing careers in health care, awarding over $15,000 in scholarships since 2019.
- LA Pride Parade
- Keck Pride has walked in the LA Pride Parade for several years.
- Southern California LGBTQIA+ Health Conference
- We are a 2023 sponsor for the conference.
- Trans Can Work
- We participated in the EMPOWER! career fair.
- TransLatin@ Coalition
- We entered into a formal partnership with the TransLatin@Coalition as part of our gender-affirming care program development and launch.
- We were a Presenting Sponsor of the fashion show fundraiser GARRAS in 2021 and a Gold Sponsor in 2022.
LGBTQ+ Health Resources
Local Service Providers
- APLA Health
- Bienestar
- CHLA Center for Transyouth Health and Development
- LGBTQ+ Health Services for Los Angeles County
- Los Angeles Gender Center
- Los Angeles LGBT Center
- St. John’s Community Health Clinic
- The TransLatin@ Coalition
- The Wall Las Memorias
Local Resources
- Gender Justice LA
- Latino Equality Alliance
- Los Angeles Bi+ Task Force
- PFLAG Los Angeles
- Transforming Family
- USC LGBTQ+ Student Center
Regional/National Health Resources and Directories
- California Department of Public Health – LGBTQ+ Health
- California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention LGBT Health
- Joint Commission LGBT Guide
- LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory
- National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
- National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network
- OutCare Health
- Therapy for Queer People of Color
- Trans Lifeline
National Organizations
- Access to Prevention Advocacy Intervention & Treatment (APAIT) Online
- Bisexual Resource Center
- Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
- Center for Black Equity
- Human Rights Campaign
- Lambda Legal
- National Black Justice Coalition
- National Center for Transgender Equality
- National LGBT Cancer Network
- SAGE Advocacy & Services for LGBT+ Elders
- Transgender Law Center
- The Trevor Project
- World Professional Association for Transgender Health
