Cornell Health has earned a perfect score on the Healthcare Equality Index survey to receive an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader designation by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Meet our CAPS Community Liaison for LGBTQ+ students
Get to know Kimberly VanNorman, LMSW, CAPS counselor and Community Liaison for LGBTQ+ Students. You can consult informally with Kim without an appointment during her Let's Talk drop-in hours.
A warm welcome to our students in the LGBTQ+ community!
Our staff members deliver affirming and supportive services for our patients and clients of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions. We encourage you to be open with your health care providers about your needs and concerns so we can provide you with the best care possible.
Medical care & pharmacy services
Cornell Health provides ...
- Primary care medical services, with each student assigned to their own Primary Care Provider throughout their time at Cornell.
- Inclusive sexual health care including safer sex resources, PrEP, PEP, STI/HIV screening and treatment, and contraception.
- Gender-affirming care including hormone therapy, official letters for gender marker changes and name changes, surgical referrals, and pre- and post-operative care.
- Pharmacy services including prescription and non-prescription medication, sexual health and self-care supplies, and no-cost binding and tucking supplies.
Counseling & support
Many students find themselves questioning, expanding, refining, or claiming their sexual orientation and relationship preferences during their college years. If you are struggling with any aspect of your identity – including gender and sexual orientation, relationships, coming out, etc. – we hope you will seek support.
- Students may find it helpful to talk with a counselor to explore and navigate these parts of their lives. When making a counseling appointment, you can request a counselor with expertise in sexuality and/or LGBTQ+ issues.
- You may also consult informally with a CAPS provider – including with our Community Liaison for LGBTQ+ Students – through Let’s Talk without needing to make an appointment.
- Group counseling is one of the most effective tools for addressing issues common among college students. CAPS typically offers counseling groups specifically for students in the LGBTQ+ community.
Support for victims of bias-related incidents: At Cornell, there are policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors. If you are the victim of a bias incident, help is available. Please refer to our Assault & Harassment page for support resources – at Cornell Health, and elsewhere on campus.
Coming out to a health care provider
We hope you will feel comfortable sharing information about yourself with your Cornell Health providers. And when seeking sexual health care page, we encourage you to confide in your provider openly about your sexual health history (including your partners, behaviors, concerns) so they can give you the highest-quality care possible. Please be assured that we will respect your needs, concerns, and personal journey, and will maintain your confidentiality.
Especially for transgender & other gender-expansive students
Visit our Gender-Affirming Care page for more information about gender-affirming medical and mental health care, our pharmacy's binding and tucking supplies program, how to change your name and pronouns in Cornell Health's system, and more.
We also recommend the LGBT Resource Center's Trans Resources at Cornell for comprehensive information and resources to support transgender and non-binary students.