[Providers] keep that distance like you’re not supposed to touchthe body. You’re taking care of my body, but you really don’t want to look at my body.”RU1 expressed her feelings about provider discomfort this way. “I shouldn’t ever have tofeel like my partners or sex life makes you feel icky.” These negative experiences wereperceived to exacerbate mistrust of the medical system. O
I can imagine how something like this would only exacerbate gender dysphoria.
he cities sampled varied significantly. For example,Burlington is a small city with a mostly white population and without a LGBTQI-specifichealth center, while New York City has one of the largest LGBTQI populations in thecountry
Increases the generalizability of results.
Inclusion criteria were LGBTQI or other related identities. Attempts were made to excludepeople under the age of 18 given the complications in obtaining IRB approval for minors.However, after reviewing the data, the researchers discovered that one participant in an earlygroup was 17.
I recognize the importance of stricter IRB restrictions to protect minors. However, I believe their experiences and insights are both valuable and underexplored. As a minor, I personally struggled to access necessary medical services as a gay person due to limited autonomy and the fact that my insurance was tied to my parents. By only sampling adults, we risk losing these critical perspectives.