‘I created the NHS rainbow badge, so no child is made to feel the way I was by a healthcare professional’
Dr RanjWhen Dr Michael Farquhar was 14, he made up an excuse to see his family doctor.He wasn’t ill; he just wanted a safe place to discuss his sexuality.
He had known he was gay since he was in primary school, but didn’t know how to tell his family. ‘I said to the GP: “I think I’m gay”, Michael recalls. ‘And he replied: “Oh, I’m sure you’ll grow out of it.
And don’t worry; I won’t tell your grandfather when we play golf this evening.” ‘Well, that was me back in the closet.’ Michael didn’t then come out until he was in his mid-thirties.‘It feels very isolating,’ he explains. ‘If you feel you can’t tell people who you are.
It is not a healthy way to try and live.’It was this experience of a healthcare professional’s lack of understanding and compassion, that eventually drove Michael to make a change that would help stop other children from feeling the way he once did.
