lesbian couple turned away for being gay?

A lesbian couple in Winnipeg say a doctor refused them as patients because of religious beliefs. Andrea and Ginette Markowski, who recently moved to Winnipeg from Yellowknife were looking for a new family doctor and learned that a Dr.Karmeila Elias was accepting new patients. The couple say they were upfront with the Lakewood Medical Centre regarding their status as a same sex couple when scheduling for the meet and greet, however, going by the reaction of Elias, Andrea Markowski suggests she may not have gotten the memo.

  Markowski says when she introduced Ginette as her partner, Elias became visibly uncomfortable. Once inside the office, the doctor wouldn't even look at her and seemed flustered. That's when Andrea decided to ask if there was a problem.

"We started running through my medical history and [the doctor] could not look at me. She was flustered. She couldn't focus. I knew something was up, so I asked her, 'Is our sexual orientation an issue for you in terms of your ability to treat us?'"

Ms.Markowski alleges Dr. Elias soon confirmed her suspicions.

"She said, first thing, that it was against her religion, and second, that she had no experience caring for lesbian or gay patients."

  After a terse discussion during which Ms. Markowski says she told the physician she needed "to be educated and get some help because her response was ill-informed," the couple left.
Feeling discriminated against, and rightfully so if their version of events is accurate, the Markowskis' decided to lodge complaints with both the College of Physicians and Surgeons along with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.

  Manitoba doctors can refuse new patients based on their workload, but not because of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

In a phone interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, Elias said

she has no experience treating lesbians and gays who sometimes have "sexual problems" and other diseases.

"They get a lot of diseases and infections," Elias said during a phone interview. "I didn't refuse to treat them, I said it's better to find someone who has experience and will take this type of patients. There (are) some doctors who can treat them."

  Nice. In an e-mail statement to the Free Press, Dr. Terry Gwozdecki, medical director at the clinic, defended the doctor saying she never “refused to accept these women into her practice.”

Gwozdecki said Elias interviewed the couple, took their medical history and had already initiated the doctor-patient relationship when one of the women asked Elias if she had a problem with their same-sex relationship.

Gwozdecki said Elias was upfront with her religious beliefs — which are opposed to homosexuality — and disclosed she has not had exposure to lesbian patients.

“Dr. Elias felt it necessary to be up­front with regards to her own religious beliefs and inexperience in treating homosexual patients,”

“Please understand that her inexperience stems not from unwillingness to treat these patients, but solely due to lack of exposure to them in her practices in Cairo, Egypt and Steinbach, Manitoba.”

  Andrea Markowski said she's not surprised by Gwozdecki's statement, however, the bottom line is when asked if she had a problem treating the lesbian couple, Elias responded yes and that homosexuality violates her religious beliefs.

  Dr.Elias averages a 3.2 rating out of a possible 5 on ratemds.com. Of the 20 reviews, this one is my favorite.

WENT TO HER WITH SOME MENSTURAL PROBLEMS. WHEN I CALLED BACK TO GET MY BLOOD PREGNANCY TEST RESULT SHE TOLD ME I WAS LOSING MY BABY - - - BUT I WASN'T PREGNANT. SHE THEN GOT REALLY FLUSTERED AND MUMBLED THAT MY TEST WAS NEGATIVE AND HUNG UP ON ME. DON'T BOTHER WITH HER OR THAT CLINIC AT ALL.