Finding LGBTQ+ Health Care in Austin Right Now
Kind Clinic, Waterloo Counseling, Planned Parenthood, and what the latest Texas legislation actually changed — and didn't
Finding LGBTQ+ Health Care in Austin Right Now
Kind Clinic, Waterloo Counseling, Planned Parenthood, and what the latest Texas legislation actually changed — and didn’t
Austin’s reputation as a progressive enclave inside a conservative state has always been partly aspirational. When it comes to LGBTQ+ health care specifically, the gap between reputation and reality has widened considerably since 2023. Three years ago, Austin had broader telehealth access, a functioning gender-affirming care program at a major public university health system, and relatively short wait times at specialized clinics. That has contracted. Sustained legislative pressure has produced real consequences for real patients, and the confusion about what is still legal, still available, and still affordable is doing harm of its own — probably more harm than most people realize.
This guide is not a pride-month resource list. It’s a tool for a harder environment. Who is actually seeing new patients? What care remains legal for adults? What same-day options exist for summer STI testing? What questions should you ask before you show up? We’ve attempted to verify details as of mid-2025, but this field shifts — sometimes faster than any guide can track. A verification note at the end tells you what to confirm directly with providers before acting on anything here.
What Texas Law Actually Restricts, and What It Doesn’t
The single most damaging source of confusion in this space is the assumption that recent Texas legislation has broadly restricted LGBTQ+ health care. It hasn’t. What it has done is specific, and genuinely consequential for some populations — but not the ones most adults are asking about.
SB 14 (2023) is the law most people have heard about. It bans gender-affirming medical care — puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy — for minors in Texas. It does not affect adult care in any way. Adults in Austin can still legally receive hormone therapy, and providers can still legally prescribe and administer it. The confusion between “care for minors” and “care broadly” has caused some adults to delay or abandon care they’re legally entitled to receive. That is a real public health problem, and it’s a confusion problem, not a legal one.
HB 1686 (2023) introduced related restrictions on gender-affirming care in certain settings, again targeting minor patients.
The 2025 legislative session added friction at the margins. Legislators pushed measures affecting telehealth prescribing. The practical effect for adult HRT patients has been messy — some providers are still working out what the new rules actually require of them. If you were using a telehealth-only HRT provider, contact that provider directly to confirm their Texas service status before your next prescription renewal. Austin-based brick-and-mortar providers are the most stable access point right now.
On Austin’s “sanctuary city” resolutions for LGBTQ+ residents: they are symbolic. The City of Austin has passed resolutions affirming its support for LGBTQ+ community members. They’re not legally protective and don’t override state law. Don’t factor them into a health-care decision.
Kind Clinic: Austin’s Primary Specialized Provider
Kind Clinic, part of the Texas Health Action network, is the closest thing Austin has to a dedicated LGBTQ+ primary care hub. Most coverage gets wrong what it actually offers, what it costs, or how to get in — and that misinformation sends people to the wrong door.
Kind Clinic operates two Austin locations: one in the Central Austin/N. Lamar area and one in the North Loop/North Austin area. Current addresses and hours have shifted with staffing and operational changes. Verify both at kindclinic.org or by calling ahead before your visit, particularly if you’re planning to walk in.
The service menu centers on sexual health and gender-affirming care. For sexual health: PrEP, PEP, STI testing and treatment for the full panel — HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, and others — and ongoing HIV care and medication management. For gender-affirming care: adult hormone therapy, including estrogen, testosterone, and related medications, under an informed-consent model. You don’t need a referral or a letter from a therapist to initiate HRT as an adult. That informed-consent model is what distinguishes Kind Clinic from many general-practice providers who still require gatekeeping documentation that can add months to the process. Months that, for some patients, aren’t really optional.
Kind Clinic operates on a sliding-scale, income-based fee structure and doesn’t require insurance. The scale is based on self-reported income, and staff will walk you through it at intake. For many patients accessing PrEP specifically, costs can be reduced to near-zero through manufacturer assistance programs. Bring income documentation if you have it; if you don’t, staff can work with you. For STI testing, the sliding scale can bring costs to zero for qualifying low-income patients — confirm current pricing with clinic staff for your specific panel.
Kind Clinic offers walk-in windows for STI testing, which matters during summer when testing demand spikes. Walk-in windows are not all-day. They’re designated time blocks, typically morning slots on weekdays. These fill up fast. If you plan to walk in during summer months, arrive before the window opens. Call ahead to confirm that day’s availability.
For established patients, Kind Clinic’s telehealth services are available. Those who’ve completed an initial in-person visit can use telehealth for follow-up care. Confirm current telehealth scope directly with the clinic — this is one of the areas most subject to change following the 2025 legislative session.
Kind Clinic absorbs a significant share of demand when other options narrow, and you can feel that in the waitlists. They exist, particularly for new-patient appointments for gender-affirming hormone care. For STI testing with a walk-in window, same-day access is more realistic. Contact Kind Clinic as early as possible if you need to establish care for gender-affirming hormones, rather than waiting until you’ve exhausted other options.
Same-Day and Walk-In STI Testing: Your Summer Options
Summer in Austin means higher-volume social and sexual activity, Pride Month programming, festival season. More people need STI testing more urgently. These three are your realistic same-week or same-day paths.
Kind Clinic’s walk-in windows operate at both locations on weekday mornings. Sliding-scale pricing applies; no insurance required. For patients with no or very low income, the cost can be zero or close to it. Exact pricing for your specific panel should be confirmed with clinic staff.
Planned Parenthood Greater Texas offers same-day appointment booking online at ppgt.org for STI testing, including rapid HIV testing. Austin has multiple Planned Parenthood locations; the South Congress location is well-positioned for South Austin’s LGBTQ+-dense neighborhoods — South Congress, Bouldin Creek, Travis Heights, South Lamar. Planned Parenthood uses a sliding-scale fee structure based on income and family size. An uninsured STI visit runs roughly $0 to $150 depending on the panel and your sliding-scale adjustment. Verify current addresses and hours at ppgt.org before your visit.
For uninsured residents on Austin’s east side, CommUnity Care operates multiple east Austin locations with an LGBTQ-welcoming designation. As a federally qualified health center, it’s required to serve patients regardless of ability to pay, using a sliding scale tied to the federal poverty level. Visit costs are typically in the $20 to $40 range; verify current fees when you call. CommUnity Care is a practical first option for uninsured east-side residents who can’t easily reach Kind Clinic or need a same-week appointment. Call ahead to book; same-day walk-in availability varies by location and staffing. Current addresses and contact information are at communitycareaustin.org.
All three see volume increases in June and July. Book or call early in the week and early in the day. Don’t wait until Friday afternoon and expect same-day access.
Gender-Affirming Care for Adults: Who Is Still Offering It
Adult hormone therapy is legal in Texas. The challenge isn’t legality — it’s access, waitlists, and provider willingness in a climate that’s made some clinicians cautious about visibility. Real barriers. But you can get through them if you know where to look.
Kind Clinic remains the most accessible entry point for adult HRT in Austin. The informed-consent model, no-insurance-required intake, and sliding-scale fees make it the practical first stop for most adults seeking to start or transfer hormone care. Planned Parenthood Greater Texas has expanded its gender-affirming care services in recent years. Adult HRT is available at select Austin locations under an informed-consent model; verify which specific Austin locations currently offer gender-affirming hormone care at ppgt.org or by calling before booking. Online scheduling is available at ppgt.org; sliding-scale fees apply.
UT Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin are a more complicated picture. UT Dell had a functioning gender-affirming care program, and UT Health Austin had been an important resource for patients who needed care within a full-service academic medical system. Whether those programs are still intact — and to what extent — is genuinely unclear. The pressure on public university health systems in Texas since 2023 has been real, and publicly funded institutions have been less willing to advertise what they’re doing or not doing. Call UT Health Austin directly to confirm the current status of adult gender-affirming care before scheduling anything. Don’t assume. UT Health Austin is located near the MLK/I-35 corridor in Austin’s Medical District, accessible via MetroRapid Route 803.
National telehealth platforms specifically designed for gender-affirming hormone therapy have had variable Texas service status over the past two years. Before relying on a telehealth-only provider for HRT, confirm directly with that platform that they’re currently prescribing to Texas patients and understand what the intake process now requires. A prescription you filled six months ago tells you nothing about today.
Mental Health: LGBTQ-Affirming Therapy and Crisis Resources
Mental health care is a distinct need from primary care, and the options here are real but strained. Waterloo Counseling Center is the closest Austin has to a dedicated LGBTQ+ mental health provider, offering individual therapy, couples counseling, and group therapy on a sliding scale. Fees run roughly $5 to $80 per session depending on income. Verify current rates when you call. Waterloo therapists are trained in LGBTQ+ issues, and the intake process doesn’t require patients to explain or justify their identity — which sounds like a low bar until you’ve had to do it somewhere that treated it like a liability.
Waterloo has a waitlist. New clients seeking individual therapy should expect to wait. Contact them early at waterloocounseling.org, ask specifically how long the current new-client wait is, and get on it. Don’t wait until you’re in crisis to make that call.
Austin Travis County Integral Care (ATCIC) is Austin’s public mental health authority and an important resource for residents who are uninsured or in acute distress. ATCIC operates a 24/7 crisis line and walk-in crisis services with LGBTQ-welcoming policies and serves residents regardless of insurance status. For residents dealing with mental health and substance use simultaneously — a population that faces particular barriers finding integrated care anywhere — ATCIC offers integrated services. It’s not a private therapy practice; it’s a safety-net system. Current contact information is at integral-care.org.
For younger LGBTQ+ Austin residents, OUT Youth offers support groups, one-on-one advocacy, and drop-in programming at outyouth.org. OUT Youth isn’t a clinical mental health provider, but it offers support structures for LGBTQ+ people navigating identity, family conflict, or housing instability. The programming calendar is on their website; drop-in hours are the most accessible entry point.
If you or someone you know is in mental health crisis, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has LGBTQ+-specific support options. Call or text 988. The Trevor Project serves LGBTQ+ youth specifically, 24/7; contact information is at thetrevorproject.org.
The Austin PrideCenter: What It Does and Doesn’t Do
The Austin PrideCenter gets consistently described in coverage and listicles as a health resource, sometimes in ways that imply clinical services it doesn’t provide. This matters because a reader who shows up expecting a clinic appointment will leave without the care they need — and possibly with less time to find it.
What the PrideCenter actually offers: community health navigation. Staff can help residents understand provider options, identify affirming clinicians, and connect to services. Support groups across a range of identities and experiences. Direct programming — events, workshops, social connection — that reduces isolation. The PrideCenter is also a cultural institution, not merely a social service organization. That role has real value in a political environment where LGBTQ+ residents face sustained pressure.
The PrideCenter does not offer clinical care of any kind. No prescriptions. No therapy sessions. No STI testing. If you call the PrideCenter looking for a hormone appointment or a therapist, they can help you find one — but they’re the directory, not the destination. Navigation is genuinely valuable, especially for newly arrived residents or people who haven’t engaged with Austin’s LGBTQ+ health systems before. The PrideCenter staff know this provider community well and can give you current, locally specific guidance. Treat them as a starting point when you’re not sure where to go, then go to the clinical provider they point you toward.
Current address, hours, and contact information: austinpridecenter.org.
If You’re Uninsured, Underinsured, or Priced Out
The guides that circulate around Pride Month tend to assume readers have insurance, stable income, and transportation. A significant share of Austin’s LGBTQ+ population — particularly younger residents, residents of color, and those in east-side and North Lamar corridor neighborhoods — have none of those. This section is for them.
CommUnity Care is the primary federally qualified health center network serving Austin. As an FQHC, it receives federal funding specifically to serve uninsured and underserved populations, and its sliding-scale fees are legally required to be accessible at low income levels. CommUnity Care has received LGBTQ-welcoming designation and offers primary care including STI testing and treatment. For east Austin residents, the east-side location is the most geographically accessible option. Visit costs are typically in the $20 to $40 range; verify current rates when you call. Full location and contact information at communitycareaustin.org.
If you’re HIV-negative and at risk, there is no reason cost should be a barrier to PrEP in 2025. Ready, Set, PrEP is a federal HHS program that provides PrEP medication at no cost for uninsured patients through participating pharmacies. The Gilead COMPASS Initiative covers medication costs for eligible patients who need copay assistance or don’t qualify for Ready, Set, PrEP. Kind Clinic staff are experienced in walking uninsured patients through these programs — you don’t have to sort out the paperwork alone. Between Kind Clinic’s sliding-scale visits and these medication assistance programs, PrEP should cost an uninsured Austin resident nothing or close to it. The barrier is getting to the appointment, not paying the bill.
Planned Parenthood’s sliding scale applies to all services including HRT and STI testing. Uninsured patients aren’t turned away. Kind Clinic’s no-insurance pathway is genuine — it’s not a nominal option that requires hours of paperwork. The intake process for uninsured patients is handled by clinic staff at the front desk. If you have no income documentation, tell them; they have a process for that too.
Getting There: A Neighborhood and Transit Rundown
Austin’s transit situation affects health-care access in ways that rarely appear in these guides. Verify all current addresses directly with providers, as locations have shifted in recent years.
Kind Clinic Central is in the Central Austin/N. Lamar area, accessible from the MLK/I-35 corridor and surrounding east-side and Hyde Park neighborhoods. Confirm current address and parking at kindclinic.org before your visit.
Kind Clinic North serves the North Loop/North Austin corridor — North Loop, Rundberg, and North Austin residents especially. Confirm current address at kindclinic.org.
Planned Parenthood South Congress is the most accessible option for South Austin residents needing STI testing or HRT services, serving Bouldin Creek, Travis Heights, Galindo, and further south. Confirm current address at ppgt.org.
UT Dell Medical and UT Health Austin sit in the Health District near the MLK/I-35 corridor in East Austin. The MetroRapid 803 runs this corridor from downtown and North Austin. UT-affiliated services may operate on reduced summer schedules during the June–August academic break; call ahead before booking.
CommUnity Care’s east-side location is the most practical option for uninsured residents in east Austin zip codes. Full location and transit information at communitycareaustin.org.
Waterloo Counseling Center’s current address and directions are at waterloocounseling.org.
Verification Callout: What to Confirm Before You Show Up
This has changed significantly over the past two years and will keep changing. Hours shift, waitlists open and close, telehealth policies update with each legislative session. Verify the following directly with providers before you act on anything here, and for broader context on Austin providers, our LGBTQ+ health and wellness coverage tracks policy and access changes as they develop:
- Kind Clinic walk-in hours and current wait windows. Check kindclinic.org the day before you plan to visit, or call ahead.
- UT Health Austin gender-affirming care program status. Call before scheduling. This is the most uncertain item in this guide.
- Telehealth HRT provider Texas service status. If you use a national telehealth HRT platform, contact them directly to confirm current Texas prescribing availability and any in-person requirements.
- Planned Parenthood same-day booking and which Austin locations offer HRT. Visit ppgt.org; book online and confirm gender-affirming care availability at your specific location.
- Waterloo Counseling waitlist status. Ask specifically how long the current new-client wait is so you can plan accordingly.
Questions to ask when you call any provider: Do you use an informed-consent model for HRT, or do you require a therapist letter? Do you accept patients without insurance, and what does the sliding scale look like for my income? Can established patients continue HRT via telehealth, or is every visit in-person now? Are you currently accepting new patients for the specific service I need, and what is the current wait for a first appointment?
Direct contacts and booking:
- Kind Clinic: kindclinic.org
- Planned Parenthood Greater Texas: ppgt.org
- CommUnity Care: communitycareaustin.org
- Waterloo Counseling Center: waterloocounseling.org
- Austin Travis County Integral Care: integral-care.org
- Austin PrideCenter: austinpridecenter.org
- OUT Youth: outyouth.org
- UT Health Austin: uthealthaustin.org
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
- The Trevor Project: thetrevorproject.org
The care exists in Austin in mid-2025. Adult LGBTQ+ health care — including gender-affirming hormone therapy and comprehensive sexual health services — remains legal. Kind Clinic is the load-bearing institution in this system; when legislative pressure squeezes out other options, more patients end up there. Planned Parenthood has expanded to fill some of that space. CommUnity Care is essential for uninsured east-side residents who can’t easily make it to N. Lamar. And for anyone disoriented by the noise coming out of the Legislature, the Austin PrideCenter can help you figure out where to start. The situation three years ago was easier. This is what it is now. Know the map.
