Lambda Literary Award winner

To remedy means to heal, to cure, to set right, to make reparations.

The Remedy invites writers and readers to imagine what we need to create healthy, resilient, and thriving LGBTQ communities. This anthology is a diverse collection of real-life stories from queer and trans people on their own health-care experiences and challenges, from gay men living with HIV who remember the systemic resistance to their health-care needs, to a lesbian couple dealing with the experience of cancer, to young trans people who struggle to find health-care providers who treat them with dignity and respect. The book also includes essays by health-care providers, activists, and leaders, with something to say about the challenges, politics, and opportunities surrounding LGBTQ health issues.

Both exceptionally moving and an incendiary call-to-arms, The Remedy is a must-read for anyone--gay, straight, trans, and otherwise--passionately concerned about the right to proper health care for all.

Contributors include Amber Dawn, Sinclair Sexsmith, Francisco Ibanez-Carrasco, Cooper Lee Bombardier, Kara Sievewright, Kelli Dunham, Vivek Shraya, and many more.

Zena Sharman is a writer, speaker, strategist and LGBTQ+ health advocate. Sheâ??s the editor of two books, including the Lambda Literary award-winning anthology The Remedy: Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care. Her book The Care We Dream Of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health is forthcoming in 2021. An engaging speaker, Zena brings her passion for LGBTQ+ health to audiences of health care providers and students across North America.

Zena Sharman's profile page

• Winner, Lambda Literary Award

The best kind of waiting-room reading, The Remedy brings together many voices to offer something we often don't find through our health-care providers. Zena Sharman has collected points of view from many sides of medical interactions, creating a community of people who truly believe that the barriers to medical access that LGBTQIA people face are unjust but changeable. -Rae Spoon, singer-songwriter and author of First Spring Grass Fire

A welcome trend in clinical education and practice involves inviting patients and clients to tell their own stories of identity, illness, health care and resilience in their own words, to both learners and practitioners. The Remedy provides a rich tapestry of narratives across the spectrum of human sexuality and genders, and includes descriptions of innovations from committed health professionals who address the many gaps in providing attuned, informed care to queer and trans people. -Allan Peterkin, MD, and co-author of Caring for Lesbian and Gay People: A Clinical Guide

A much-needed anthology that shares stories from patients and providers across the healthcare field ... The Remedy is part of a growing effort within queer and trans communities to lead the long-lasting and healthy lives that we deserve. -Lambda Literary

This anthology on health care for queer and transgender people is as much an archive of experience as it is a call to action ... It's a must-read for health care professionals and students going into the field, those navigating the system or supporting others through it, and anyone interested in honest, informed writing on the subject.
-Publishers Weekly

A unique mix of stories from health care providers, health care seekers, and profiles of queer and trans friendly clinics, this book deals with issues close to my heart: sex workers' rights, trans rights, and drug and alcohol abuse in our communities. But, truly, it's the quality of the writing in these pages that blew me away. As a queer who has rarely had health insurance, I felt a solidarity with so many of these voices, as well as challenged and woken up. The Remedy is poetry at its most radical and engaged.
-Ariel Gore, author of The End of Eve

The Remedy is a bandage lovingly placed on the open wounds of every LGBTQAI person afraid of going to a doctor. This book does not just ask doctors to follow the oath of "first do no harm"; it also demands medical practitioners respect, understand, and affirm our queer lives, bodies, and families. The Remedy is the collection of healing and solidarity queers desperately need. -Sassafras Lowrey, author of Lost Boi

An enlightening collection of essays detailing many of these systemic problems, and a call to action on issues that should be understood by all. -National Post ("Best Books of the Year")

I loved reading The Remedy -- what a wonderful compilation of diverse voices! This anthology demonstrates just how important it is for queer and trans people to tell their stories, and for the health care community to listen. It's a must-read for doctors, nurses, therapists, and others who care for queer and trans patients, and for students training to become the next generation of health care providers. -Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD, and editor of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves

The Remedy is a book to give to anyone working in health care, to queer and trans friends struggling to find their voice through an illness, to your straight parents and queer or trans children. The candour in this collection filled me with that relief and gratitude one senses from feeling deeply seen. Here are quintessential stories of queer and trans people navigating our health care and medical systems. If you're queer or trans, these confidences will be nothing short of healing. If you're a medical practitioner, they'll be vital.
-Michael V. Smith, author of My Body Is Yours