William Kokay

The Research Nobody Else Is Doing: Sex, Stroke & the LGBTQ+ Community | William Kokay

What are we drinking?Cosmopolitan

About the episode

What happens to your identity, your relationships, and your sex life after a stroke — and why is the healthcare system barely even asking the question?

This week on What Are We Drinking, Rachel sits down with William Kokay — social worker, PhD researcher, and the man on a mission to bridge one of the biggest gaps in post-stroke care. Over a Cosmo (obviously), they get into a conversation that is equal parts hilarious, eye-opening, and genuinely important.

William’s work sits at the intersection of stroke rehabilitation, sexuality, gender identity and the LGBTQ+ community — and it’s groundbreaking because almost no one else is doing it. He’s spent years inside neurology wards, talking to patients and their partners about the things most clinicians quietly sidestep. And he’s funding most of it himself.

This one is unfiltered, unapologetic, and full of moments that’ll make you think differently about what it really means to treat the whole person — not just the medical condition.

In this episode

Why sexuality and identity are almost always left out of stroke recovery conversations
The gap in care for LGBTQ+ stroke survivors — and why it matters for everyone
What it means when your partner becomes your carer overnight
The NDIS, funding cuts to sexuality support, and who’s getting left behind
How Donald Trump’s policies are literally affecting research participants in Australia
What healthcare professionals still don’t understand about queer health
Growing up in the 90s without role models, and how that shaped William’s life’s work
Why identity isn’t fixed — and why that’s actually a beautiful thing

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