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Share your experience of being an LGBTQ+ person with cancer
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To help us better understand the experiences of our LGBTQ+ patients, we are asking you to share your comments about your cancer treatment and care at the Royal Marsden.
Any feedback you have – positive or negative – will be shared with our EDI Steering Group and Patient Experience team in order to help us ensure that all patients receive the best possible treatment and care.
We welcome and encourage comments from anybody who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or any other marginalised gender or sexuality (e.g. intersex or asexual).
Please add your experience below:
You will need to sign up to be a member of the Cancer Patients’ Voice platform to share your experience on this page. The screen name you choose will be displayed along with your comment.
As this is a public forum, anything you share can be seen by other Cancer Patients' Voice users. If you would prefer to share your experiences privately, please email [email protected]
Please also subscribe to 'Stay informed' on the right hand side of this page if you would be happy for us to get in touch with you to ask you more about your experiences.
To help us better understand the experiences of our LGBTQ+ patients, we are asking you to share your comments about your cancer treatment and care at the Royal Marsden.
Any feedback you have – positive or negative – will be shared with our EDI Steering Group and Patient Experience team in order to help us ensure that all patients receive the best possible treatment and care.
We welcome and encourage comments from anybody who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or any other marginalised gender or sexuality (e.g. intersex or asexual).
Please add your experience below:
You will need to sign up to be a member of the Cancer Patients’ Voice platform to share your experience on this page. The screen name you choose will be displayed along with your comment.
As this is a public forum, anything you share can be seen by other Cancer Patients' Voice users. If you would prefer to share your experiences privately, please email [email protected]
Please also subscribe to 'Stay informed' on the right hand side of this page if you would be happy for us to get in touch with you to ask you more about your experiences.
What is your experience of being an LGBTQ+ person with cancer?
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Share Being treated for cancer when you're LGBTQI+ on FacebookShare Being treated for cancer when you're LGBTQI+ on TwitterShare Being treated for cancer when you're LGBTQI+ on LinkedinEmail Being treated for cancer when you're LGBTQI+ link
I was treated for head and neck cancer back in 2020 (radiation and chemotheraoy), then again in 2021-2023 (immunotherapy) when my cancer had metastisized. I'm also gay and non-binary, with my partner my carer for the first bout of treatment in 2020.
Overall, I/we had a great amount of acceptance, especially by the oncologists and radiotherapy team. I had more difficulty though with some of the nurses, and food-serving assistants. It was frequently assumed that I was married to a woman, even when my partner was present on the ward with me while I was having treatment. On one occasion... Continue reading
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I often worry whether healthcare environments are safe and inclusive. Although I have not had cancer, I’ve seen how LGBTQ+ friends feel invisible in clinical settings—forms don’t reflect their feelings and some services aren’t tailored to their needs. This highlights the need for inclusive cancer care that affirms identity and offers respectful support.
Araya Gautam
Share Identifying being bisexual and having cancer on FacebookShare Identifying being bisexual and having cancer on TwitterShare Identifying being bisexual and having cancer on LinkedinEmail Identifying being bisexual and having cancer link
I’ve not really experienced any issues regarding my sexuality. Seeing a nurse or doctor with a rainbow lanyard does make things easier but there has an automatic assumption I’m completely straight. That, in general, is more of a society issue than a health issue, personally. Seeing a rainbow lanyard and/or badge does give me more confidence about speaking out regarding LGBTQIA+ and cancer, particularly about biphobia. Whenever I’m able to speak out about LGBTQIA+ issues, I make sure this is in the forefront of planning with PPI/E and EDI panels so it’s not an afterthought. It’s little but it makes... Continue reading
The Royal Marsden conducts regular surveys to understand our patients’ experiences of cancer care and treatment. During these surveys, we ask our patients about some of their personal characteristics, including their gender and sexuality. However, to make sure that the surveys remain anonymous, we do not publish data that would make it possible to identify an individual.
With characteristics that are common in the general population, this does not present a problem. For example, as the vast majority of respondents will identify as ‘male’ or ‘female’ when asked about their gender, we can publish data that allows us to see specifically how men and women feel about their care and treatment. By comparison, the number of respondents who identify as ‘other’ is significantly smaller, and we cannot publish data on their responses without potentially compromising their anonymity.
As LGBTQ+ people make up a small percentage of the population, we have been unable to publish data on their experiences of care and treatment.