In the light of the various anti-LGBTQ bills making their way through the Texas Legislature this session and lawmakers’ attempts to deny young transgender people essential healthcare treatments and other rights, one growing Austin health nonprofit is taking a kinder — and more inclusive — approach.

Texas Health Action, a nonprofit that offers access to quality health services for all in a safe and supportive environment, has outgrown its Central Austin clinic location after five years of providing sexual health services to Austinites, and has opened a spacious new Kind Clinic.

THA purchased the building housing the new 5,036-square-foot clinic, located at 101 W. Koenig Ln., which replaces Kind Clinic’s former Central Austin location.

At the heart of Kind Clinic’s mission is the dedication to provide access to sexual and gender-affirming healthcare, regardless of patients’ ability to pay. As such, Kind Clinic offers HIV testing and care, access to HIV-prevention medication, STI testing and treatment, and gender-affirming care services.

Additionally, Kind Clinic — founded in 2015 by volunteers and local community activists — provides a variety of vaccinations, including those for hepatitis A and hepatitis B, human papillomavirus, influenza, MCV4 meningococcal, pneumococcal 23-valent, pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate, shingles, and tetanus. The clinic also has an onsite lab and offers access to onsite advocates who can help patients navigate the often confusing and inequitable healthcare system.

“The need for Kind Clinic’s affirming and shame-free sexual health services has grown tremendously over the last year,” says Christopher Hamilton, chief executive officer of THA. “Kind Clinic is expanding to keep serving a growing Austin and Central Texas with the best sexual health services available.”

The move to a bigger clinic space was inevitable, as Kind Clinic is the largest sexual healthcare provider in Central Texas, offering services to all members of the community no matter patients’ race, creed, gender identity and expression, immigration status, or sexual orientation.

“As Austin’s population grows, we need more programs like Texas Health Action’s Kind Clinic that provide compassionate healthcare and support the LGBTQIA+ community and people from diverse cultures and backgrounds,” says District 4 Austin City Council member Greg Casar, who was on hand for the clinic's official opening last week.

“Everyone deserves access to competent sexual health services, and we have the opportunity to show our state what that looks like and set an example for the rest of Texas with this new location in District 4.”