Transgender Issues in Public Health

1
Transgender Issues in Public Health

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Presentation objectives

• Participants will be able to define transgender
  and transexual
• Participants will be able to identify preferred
  terminology for the transgender community
• Participants will be able to describe reasons for
  health disparities within the transgender
  population

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Gender

• Where do we learn about gender?
• Boys are...
• Girls are...
• Who does this binary system exclude?
• What are consequences of this exclusion?

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LGBT- an umbrella term

• Understanding the LGBT acronym
• Sexual orientation vs gender identity

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Sexual orientation

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bisexual
• Heterosexual
• Asexual
• Pansexual

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Gender identity

• Gender, or Gender Role traditional behavioral
  differences between men and women, as defined by
  the culture in which they live.
• Sex biology and anatomy that determines if a
  person is male, female or intersex.
• Gender Identity A persons sense of their own
  gender, ones innermost concept of self as male
  or female.

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Transgender

• Transgender is considered an umbrella term
  encompassing many experiences of people who are
  gender variant

• Transexual
• Crossdresser
• Intersex
• Drag king/ queen
• Androgyne
• Genderqueer

Transgender
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Demographics

• How many trans people do you think there are in
  the US?
• Why might this be hard to discern?

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Transgender healthcare

• Hormones
• Body modification
• Sex specific health concerns

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Transgender specific issues

• Stigma
• Experiences to consider
• Bathrooms

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Transgender specific issues

• Violence
• Access to appropriate services
• Mental health
• STDs/HIV

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Transgender specific issues

• Alcohol/ substance abuse
• Unemployment/ homelessness
• Incarceration
• Media Depiction

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Barriers to healthcare

• Invisibility
• Historic experiences of bias, discrimination and
  stigmatization
• Healthcare needs may not match their external
  presentation
• Limited insurance coverage

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Strategies for transgender inclusion

• Hire a trans person
• Learn about the population and subcultures
• Familiarize yourself with the venues
• and practices

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Acknowledgements
This presentation was designed in Spring 2011 by
Curran Saile, Program Director of the Pride
Center of the Capital Region done in partial
completion of Masters in Public Health
requirements at the University at Albany School
of Public Health. The project would not have been
possible without the support of Mary Applegate,
Jennifer Manganello, Cheryl Reeves and the Pride
Center of the Capital Region.
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References

• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and
  Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM
• IV-TR). Washington, DC, 2000.
• American Public Health Association, "The Need for
  Acknowledging Transgendered Individuals
• Within Research and Clinical Practice," APHA
  Public Policy 9933, November, 1999.
• Bockting WO, Robinson BE, Rosser BRS. Transgender
  HIV prevention a qualitative
• needs assessment. AIDS Care. 199810(4)505-526.
• Conway, Lynn. "A comparative analysis of reports
  on the prevalence of transsexualism
• LynnConway.com, September 4, 2007.
• For more information about Gender Identity
  Disorder and the World Professional Association
  for
• Transgender Health (WPATH) visit their website
  www.wpath.org. If you wish to review the
• WPATH standards of care, please see
  http//www.wpath.org/publications_standards.cfm.
• Healthy People 2010 Companion Document for
  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
• (LGBT) Health published by the Gay and Lesbian
  Medical Association and the National Coalition
• for LGBT Health in 2001 Fergusson, Hoorwood and
  Beautrais, 1999.

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References

• Lombardi, E. Enhancing Transgender Healthcare.
  American Journal of Public Health, Vol 91, Issue
• 6 869-872, 2001.
• Male-to-Female Transgender Individuals Building
  Social Support and Capital from Within a
• Gender-Focused Network. Journal of Gay Lesbian
  Social Services. 2008, Vol. 20 Issue 3,
• 203-220.
• Newfield Hart, Et al. Female-to-Male Transgender
  Quality of Life. Quality of Life Research 2006.
• Shildrick, Margrit. Corporeal Cuts Surgery and
  the Psycho-Social. Body and Society. Volume
• 14(1) 31-46, 2008.
• Vancouver Coastal Health. Trans Care Gender
  transition, A Hormone Guide. Transcend
• Transgender Support Education Society and
  Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition. February
• 2006.
• W. Meyer III et.al., "Standards of Care for
  Gender Identity Disorders, 6th Version, World
• Professional Association for Transgender Health,
  Feb. 2001.