QUESTION: How can clinicians discuss sexual practices with LGBTQ+ patients in a way that is thorough and nonjudgmental without making those conversations feel disproportionately focused on sexual behavior because of a patient’s identity? In particular, how can providers ensure they are applying the same level of curiosity, normalization, and clinical relevance to sexual history-taking with cisgender, heterosexual patients, so that LGBTQ+ patients do not feel singled out or implicitly pathologized for practices that are part of a broad spectrum of normal sexual behavior?

SUMMARIZE: Intersectionality is critical to consider when caring for LGBTQ+ patients. Many individuals hold multiple marginalized identities that shape their experiences and contribute to longstanding mistrust of health-care systems. As this quote highlights, even a single negative or dismissive encounter can be enough to deter someone from seeking care in the future, underscoring the importance of affirming, culturally responsive interactions at every point of care.

CONNECT: As someone who values research transparency and believes researchers have a responsibility to share findings with the communities from which data are collected, I really appreciated that participants were actively involved in reviewing the manuscript. Having participants, note-takers, and the translator provide feedback reflects meaningful shared decision-making and community-engaged research. This approach strengthens the validity and integrity of the work, and I think it is a practice more researchers should strive to adopt.