Resource Type: Podcast Episode

Compilation: Reproductive Justice and Family Planning

Compilation: Reproductive Justice and Family Planning

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Check out a compilation of three previous episodes on reproductive justice and family planning. After you hear what each of our guests has to share, take a listen to one (or all!) of the full episodes: 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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The Clitoris and Its Friends with Rachel Gross

The Clitoris and Its Friends with Rachel Gross

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Rachel E. Gross

Did you know the visible part of the clitoris is less than one-third of its actual size? Cliterally just the tip of the iceberg! In this second part of our series with Rachel Gross, Rachel and Tammy’s excitement sparks an important conversation about this understudied organ and its friends–the vagina, vulva, and pelvic floor. Afterall, it is not common knowledge that (gasp) all sexual organs differentiate from the same embryonic root, or that close to 10,280 nerve endings were counted in one clitoris. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to sexual health, Rachel reveals how pleasure is impacted by menopause, vulvodynia, and pelvic pain. She calls attention to the whole-person approach of gender-affirming care doctors, and the importance of addressing a person’s overall experience of their bodies and pleasure. There is much to explore about pleasure and sexual health in this episode.

Links: 

  • Check out Rachel Gross’s website 

Bio: 

Rachel Gross has been a science reporter for over 10 years, determined to share educational resources and information with the public. Rachel’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC Future, National Geographic, and more. Rachel is also the author of Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage, a novel dedicated to re-mapping the female body based on meticulous research and exploration. Rachel is a committed sexual health educator, having lectured at various organizations and top universities in the nation. 

Read the transcript of the episode here. 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu. 

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Dr. Ina Park Unwraps the CDC’s New 2023 STI Report

Dr. Ina Park Unwraps the CDC’s New 2023 STI Report

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CDC’s 2023 STI Report is in, and for the first time in years, there’s good news. Tune in to our latest episode with Dr. Ina Park, a nationally recognized expert on STIs, to learn why she is cautiously optimistic about the new data trends in chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Dr. Park expertly navigates the report with our host, Tammy Kremer, explaining how the previous surge in STIs has begun to slow, while prevalence continues to be high in certain “STI microclimates.” Dr. Park stresses the importance of maintaining momentum through increased testing, focused prevention efforts for disproportionately impacted communities, and reducing stigma around STIs. Listen in to discover how disease intervention specialists are battling syphilis on Native American reservations with plenty of penicillin, a trusty car, and heroic determination. Overall, Dr. Park envisions a world where discussing infections is as routine and stigma-free as talking about the common cold.  

Resources: 

Previous Episodes with Dr. Ina Park:

Brief Bio:

  • Ina Park MD, MS, is the author of Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. She is the Principal Investigator at the California Prevention Training Center. Ina is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and a Medical Consultant in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a co-author of the 2021 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, the country’s premier resource for diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.   

Check out the transcript of the episode.

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Vagina Obscura: A Conversation with Rachel E. Gross

Vagina Obscura: A Conversation with Rachel E. Gross

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Rachel E. Gross

Meet Rachel E. Gross, science journalist and author of Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage. In this first part of a two–part conversation, Rachel shares how her personal experience with bacterial vaginosis inspired her to write a book that investigates what we know about different parts of female anatomy and how that knowledge (and lack thereof) has been developed. Vagina Obscura is Tammy’s favorite read of the year! Rachel highlights the often-overlooked clitoris and vagina, exploring how these body parts are still unfamiliar or awkward for many, including healthcare professionals. We also delve into the systemic marginalization of female and LGBTQ+ voices in science, and how this has influenced society’s understanding of the female sexual and reproductive system. Our discussion covers topics like vaginal pH balance and why it varies across different racial groups, and the use of boric acid—a common rat poison—as a treatment for bacterial vaginosis. Rachel also shares the story behind her book’s title, Vagina Obscura.

Part two of the episode with Rachel is all about the clitoris. Stay tuned!

Check out the transcript of the episode.

Guest Bio 

Rachel Gross has been a science reporter for over 10 years, determined to share educational resources and information with the public. Rachel’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC Future, National Geographic, and more. Rachel is also the author of Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage, a novel dedicated to re-mapping the female body based on meticulous research and exploration. Rachel is a committed sexual health educator, having lectured at various organizations and top universities in the nation.  

Links:

  • Check out Rachel Gross’s website 

CAPTC related training and resources: 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu.

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

S4 E9 From Red Ribbons to Leather Straps: Rodney McCoy’s Trailblazing Tale of HIV Prevention and Pleasure 

S4 E9 From Red Ribbons to Leather Straps: Rodney McCoy’s Trailblazing Tale of HIV Prevention and Pleasure 

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In this episode, Rodney McCoy, a Black queer man with over four decades of experience in HIV prevention and education, shares his journey as a Leatherman of color and discusses the intersection of BDSM, kink, and HIV prevention. From his entry into the kink community to becoming a titleholder in the American Leatherman competition, Rodney emphasizes how the kink community provided a safe space for self-discovery and empowerment. The episode explores the link between pleasure, power dynamics, and HIV prevention, highlighting the importance of honest conversations, sex positivity training, and the destigmatization of “risky behavior.”  

Rodney, a health educator, program director, adjunct professor, and researcher, emphasizes the partnership between healthcare professionals and patients in promoting sexual health. Rodney says, “I am about encouraging people to embrace all pleasure: sexual pleasure, pleasure that comes from good mental health, from good physical health and from good social connections. I believe as healthcare professionals, regardless of the field we’re in, we are arbiters to help assist our clients explore and enhance that pleasure, that good health in their lives.”  Rodney shares personal experiences as an HIV/STI testing specialist, addressing the impact of stigma and the importance of open communication. 

Download the transcript of this episode.

Resources from Rodney:

Beyond the Red Ribbon training & other services: https://rodneymccoy.info/services

Listen to Daddy Podcast on YouTube

Bio:

Rodney “Rod” McCoy, Jr. brings his expertise of nearly four decades in HIV prevention and education, as well as his real-life experience as an African American gay/queer man living with HIV. An Oberlin College graduate with his Bachelors in Sociology and Black Studies, Rod has worked in a variety of capacities in the field of HIV Prevention, from Health Educator and HIV Counselor to Program Director. As an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University, Rod established the “HIV, Culture and Sexuality” course for the school’s Global and Community Health Department. Rod created a sex positivity training for public health professionals called Beyond the Red Ribbon in collaboration with Louis Shackelford of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. He currently works at Us Helping Us in Washington, DC, as a Research Assistant. 

S4 E8 Intimacy Starts with I: Women, Self-Love, and HIV with Michelle Lopez

S4 E8 Intimacy Starts with I: Women, Self-Love, and HIV with Michelle Lopez

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Michelle Lopez

CW: Mention of abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, incest, molestation

At 24 years old, in the early 90’s, Michelle Lopez was riding a train in New York with her newborn baby and saw an advertisement that spoke to her. It said, “If you’re a woman and you’re enduring substance abuse, homelessness, or battery, call this number.” Michelle picked up a phone and began her new life. Her and her daughter were diagnosed with HIV, and it was her mission to get clean, understand her own trauma, and help others with similar stories.

Michelle, a bisexual Caribbean woman, realized that women living with HIV continue to be ostracized for both wanting and having sex. Michelle knew she had to combat this and teach herself and others about self-love, pleasure, and intimacy. She has spent her career advocating for HIV prevention and treatment, women’s health, mental health, sexuality, and how to unlearn feelings of shame. She says, “I recognized getting clean would give me more power to fight against situations and circumstances and stand up for my rights. I had to learn what it is to love Michelle and deal with the trauma that I endured.” Michelle shares how she utilizes her experiences from childhood to the present to educate others through clinical work, research, and advocacy. Her story is one of empowerment, celebration, and making lemonade with the lemons she was given.

Download the transcript of this episode.

Resources:  

Michelle Lopez LinkedIn

CAPTC World AIDS Day Page

HIV.gov 

Bio:  

Michelle Lopez is a tireless advocate for public health among Black and Latinx communities. Over the last 30 years, Michelle has worked in HIV and AIDS prevention and health care navigation and substance use services. Michelle has served on boards of directors and advised on policy development that impacts the lives of marginalized communities. Michelle is now focusing on research designs methodology to meaningfully engages community members.

S4 E7 Dan Savage on the Magic Question “What are you into?” & Dr. Ina Park on How Providers Can Help

S4 E7 Dan Savage on the Magic Question “What are you into?” & Dr. Ina Park on How Providers Can Help

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Dan Savage is a sex-advice columnist and podcaster, and Ina Park is a sex positive STI researcher, physician, and author. The two come together in this episode to discuss desire, pleasure, and how to communicate about what feels good with partners and providers. Dan delves into discovering kinks, pleasure as we age, and trying new things alone and with partners. Ina reflects on her experiences as a provider, having conversations with patients around sex and pleasure as bodies, needs, and abilities change.  

Dan says that gay people might be better at sex, “not because we’re magic…we use the 4 magic words ‘what are you into?’” Ina explains that honest communication with a partner, a physician, a sex columnist, or a therapist knocks down barriers to explore sex and discover pleasure. The two emphasize the importance of both having providers and friends (with a good sense of judgment) with whom you can discuss sex freely.  

This is our first episode of the 3-episode mini-series on pleasure. 

Download the transcript of this episode.

Resources:  

Connect with Dan: https://savage.love/, @dansavage on Instagram, and @fakedansavage on Twitter/X 

Connect with Ina: https://www.inapark.net/ and @InaParkMD on Twitter/X 

Learn how to include pleasure in sexual health history-taking from the National Coalition for Sexual Health: https://nationalcoalitionforsexualhealth.org/tools/for-healthcare-providers/video-series 

Bios:  

Dan Savage is a sex-advice columnist, podcaster and author whose graphic, pragmatic, and humorous advice has changed the cultural conversation about monogamy, gay rights, religion, and politics. “Savage Love,” Dan’s sex-advice column, was first published in 1991 and is now syndicated across the United States and Canada. He also hosts the Savage Lovecast, a weekly, call-in advice podcast that has tens of thousands of paying subscribers for premium Magnum content. Both his podcast and column can be found on his website Savage.Love. 

Ina Park MD, MS, is the author of Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. She is the Principal Investigator at the California Prevention Training Center. She is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and a Medical Consultant in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a co-author of the 2021 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, the country’s premier resource for diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.  

S4 E6 Family Planning as Gender Affirming Care with Trans and Nonbinary Patients

S4 E6 Family Planning as Gender Affirming Care with Trans and Nonbinary Patients

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Director of Gender-Affirming Care for UC Davis Health, Miles Harris, FNP-BC, advocates for the integration of gender-affirming care with primary care and family planning. He shares that “so much of gender affirming care is not about hormones” and that “it is often so easy as a health care provider to do the thing that someone needs that changes their life.” He breaks down misconceptions: hormone therapy and contraception for trans folks is relatively simple, taking testosterone and not having a period does not prevent pregnancy, and there are no contraceptive methods that are contraindicated due to testosterone use.   

He emphasizes the importance of not making assumptions about someone’s body parts or those of their partners, as well as not assuming that people are having types of sex that can result in a pregnancy. In choosing a contraceptive method, he says, “we want to remember that this person is a whole person, more than just their trans or non-binary identity.” This is the last episode in our mini-series on family planning and reproductive justice.  

Download the transcript of this episode. 

Resources: 

Contraception Across the Transmasculine Spectrum Article co-authored by Miles Harris 

Guidelines for the Primary and Gender-Affirming Care of Transgender and Gender Nonbinary People UCSF website 

National Transgender Health Summit Biannual conference 

National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center Online learning from the Fenway Institute 

LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory Created by GLMA  

Queer Doc & Plume Remote providers of gender affirming care 

CAPTC-Related Training and Resources:  

S3 E9: Abortion and Reproductive Justice Across State Lines  Podcast episode 

S2 E2: Speaking Frankly: Supporting Youths’ Choice to Parent with Dr. Aisha May Podcast episode 

Reproductive and Sexual Health Considerations for Trans and Non-Binary People Recorded webinar 

Turn on notifications to never miss an episode of Coming Together for Sexual Health. 

Follow Coming Together for Sexual Health on Instagram and Twitter. 

Miles Harris is a trans and non-binary identified family nurse practitioner. He serves as the founding Director of Gender-Affirming Care for UC Davis Health and as an assistant clinical professor at the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. His research focuses on sexual and reproductive health needs of transgender and gender nonbinary people, including contraceptive options for transgender and gender-nonbinary people assigned female at birth. 

S4 E5 Lesser-Known Forms of Birth Control and Downplayed Side-effects: Providing Empowering Contraceptive Care  

S4 E5 Lesser-Known Forms of Birth Control and Downplayed Side-effects: Providing Empowering Contraceptive Care  

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Family doctor Jennifer Karlin, MD, PhD, and health educator Mariana Horne, join host Tammy Kremer to talk through forms of birth control that are not as well-known, including self-injectable Depo Provera, internal condoms, and the fertility awareness method. They go into side effects of birth control methods that are not always named, such as changes in mood and blood pressure. Mariana shares how she has supported clients who’ve faced coercive birth control practices in getting the care they want and how her background helps her connect with monolingual Spanish-speaking communities. Meanwhile, Jennifer shares how her family’s experience with healthcare led her to focus on empowering her patients, making the connection between how experiences in the clinic can impact people outside of the clinic: “I want them to take that feeling of autonomy, of like ‘oh, this is my body, I get to make choices about it,’ I want everybody to walk around the world knowing that and feeling that and acting that when they’re not in the clinical space.”

Read the transcript of this episode.

Resources:

Plan C Pills

M&A Hotline

UCSF New Generation Health Clinic

CAPTC Related Training and Resources:

S3 E9: Abortion and Reproductive Justice Across State Lines

Reproductive and Sexual Health Considerations for Trans and Non-Binary People

Shared Decision Making in Contraceptive Counseling

Emergency Contraception

Prevention and Management of IUD Complications

Turn on notifications to never miss an episode of Coming Together for Sexual Health.

Follow Coming Together for Sexual Health on Instagram and Twitter.

Mariana Horne is a health educator and outreach lead at UCSF New Generation Health Clinic. She is committed to addressing racial inequities and disparities in reproductive health care and is an advocate for anyone in need of reproductive care, including monolingual Spanish-speaking communities. Her expertise encompasses birth control, sexually transmitted infections, minor consent laws in California, and reproductive justice initiatives.

Jennifer Karlin, MD, PhD, is a board-certified family physician and family planning specialist whose primary care practice is anchored in caring for patients in ways that encourage their empowerment and autonomy. At UC Davis and beyond, she is committed to medical and resident education that aims to encourage physicians-in-training to approach their practices from an historical, trauma-informed, and self-reflexive perspective. Her research aims to understand how social, political, and institutional structures affect people’s experiences with diagnosis, treatment, and health care.  

S4 E4: When People Have or Are Denied Abortions: The Turnaway Study with Diana Greene Foster

S4 E4: When People Have or Are Denied Abortions: The Turnaway Study with Diana Greene Foster

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Welcome to our mini-series on Reproductive Justice and Family Planning! Diana Greene Foster, PhD, author of The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having – or Being Denied – an Abortion, sits down with host Tammy Kremer to advocate for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. She explains that the Turnaway Study found that, “When people are making the decision about what to do with an unexpected pregnancy and they decide on abortion, all the reasons they give us are exactly those outcomes that we see for people who are denied an abortion.” She envisions a world in which “everyone is an equal partner in sex, in childbearing, in contraception, in pregnancy decision-making.” 

Download the transcript of this episode.

Follow Diana Greene Foster on Twitter.

Resources: 

The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion 

Global Turnaway Study 

ANSIRH: Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Care 

Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health  

Plan C Pills 

“Black Women’s Lived Experiences of Abortion” 

Girlx Lab

CAPTC-Related Training and Resources:  

S3 E9: Abortion and Reproductive Justice Across State Lines    

S2 E2: Speaking Frankly: Supporting Youths’ Choice to Parent with Dr. Aisha May 

Reproductive and Sexual Health Considerations for Trans and Non-Binary People 

Turn on notifications to never miss an episode of Coming Together for Sexual Health.

Follow Coming Together for Sexual Health on Instagram and Twitter.

Diana Greene Foster is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health. She is the principal investigator of the Turnaway Study in the United States and Nepal, a nationwide longitudinal prospective study of the health and well-being of women who seek abortion including both women who do and do not receive abortion.  

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