Cancer charity sorry after using ‘cervix’ for transgender community

On the page dedicated to cervical cancer screenings for members of the LGBTQ+ community, the charitable organization explains in a disclaimer they “recognize that many trans men and non-binary people may have mixed feelings about or feel distanced from words like ‘cervix.’”

The disclaimer was first reported by True North.

The charity acknowledged in a section titled “Words Matter” that some members of the community may prefer to use other terms such as “front hole.”

“We recognize the limitations of the words we’ve used while also acknowledging the need for simplicity,” the Canadian Cancer Society wrote. “Another reason we use words like ‘cervix’ is to normalize the reality that men can have these body parts too.”

Reaction to the disclaimer was swift on social media.

“If you can’t call body parts by their actual names, you really don’t deserve to have any role in health and medicine,” wrote Dr. Kim Greene-Liebowitz, who is based in New York, on X.

“This is pathetic, shameful, and disrespectful.”

Another complained about the financial resources used by charities for this type of content.

“So comforting to know that (Canadian) tax (dollars) are going to non-profit content like this,” Cecile Shaw wrote. “Instead of stuff like … more doctors, cancer treatment and diagnostic imaging machines.”

“Bonus hole” is another term popularized by the LGBTQ+ community in recent years to refer to the vagina and cervix.

“I don’t know how professional people manage to get so far in life and be so disgustingly unaware of their own stupidity,” another person shared to social media. “Cervix is the proper name.”