Fife-based trainee pharmacist and Honorary Secretary of the PDA LGBT+ Network, Soh Xi Ken has won the Scottish Trades Union Congress' (STUC) Equality Award.
One of Scotland's leading LGBT+ campaigners and Honorary Secretary of the PDA's LGBT+ Network has been recognised for his advocacy work for LGBT+ pharmacists
in Scotland.
Soh Xi Ken of the PDA received the Equality Award at the STUC Annual Congress in April 2023 in Dundee. The award praised Xi Ken's tireless advocacy for LGBT+ workers
within pharmacies in Scotland, highlighting his personal experience of homophobia in Scotland and his home country, Malaysia.
In May 2021, Xi Ken became a founding member of the PDA LGBT+ Network's committee and was elected as their first Honorary Secretary. The PDA LGBT+ Network is the
first of its kind in the pharmacy world and has made a significant difference to the profile of LGBT+ people in the profession.
Xi Ken and others within the PDA LGBT+ Network spotted that there was a lack of LGBT+-specific guidance given to pharmacy students and that their unique and specific
health needs were not being addressed as part of the pharmacy education that they received.