Pros And Cons Of Transgender And Gender-Nonconforming Community

Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human

Regarding access to healthcare, transgender individuals often face the most obstructive barriers when attempting to receive care. Whether they are seeking access to hormones, therapy, general health services, reproductive healthcare, or specialty healthcare, transgender patients typically cannot get what they need without jumping through many hoops or hiding their identities. This occurs especially so in cases of intersecting identities -- where an individual is not just transgender, but is transgender and a person of color, disabled, gay, indigenous, undocumented, poor, etc. These intersecting identities interact in multifaceted ways to produce even more barriers for trans individuals seeking healthcare due to healthcare provider bias, insurance requirements, and doctors’ general unwillingness to help coupled with inaccessibility founded on racism, transphobia, homophobia, mental illness stigmatization, etc.

Topics concerning transgender can be very overwhelming for some. When one thinks of the term transgender, one may think of the process of an individual identifying as the opposite sex. The opposite sex of what he or she was born as. For some, this may involve undergoing surgical procedures or taken hormonal medications to fulfill their desire. However, when thinking of this process, one automatically thinks of transgender adults. This is rarely a topic that one would assume would be racing through the minds of young children, but in fact it is. More children today than ever, are either speaking out about their identity concerns, or displaying it in their lives. In fact, according to Date Line NBC, “The handful of American doctors who specialize

The transgender population often have complicated medical needs and encounter numerous health disparities including discrimination, lack of access to quality health care and social stigma. Some health disparities include various chronic diseases, cancers, as well as mental health issues (Vanderbilt University, 2017). Transgender individuals are at increased risk of HIV infection with their rates being reported “over four times the national average of HIV infection, with higher rates among transgender people of color (Grant, Mottet, Tanis, 2011).” In addition, they usually do not have health insurance (Makadon, 2017) and have a lower probability of preventative cancer screenings in transgender men (AMSA, 2017).

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) falls within societal minority groups such as low income, people of color, and disables (AHRQ, 2011). Due to their gender identity, discrimination, violence, and even denial of human rights and healthcare services is a common challenge among LGBT population. LGBT still faces many health disparities primarily related to the historic bias of healthcare professionals anti-LGBT manners even though society acceptance has been favorable. According to Ard and Makadon (n.d), “until 1973, homosexuality was listed as a disorder…, and transgender still is.” This stigma prevents healthcare professionals to openly ask questions in a non-judgmental manner related to sexual identity. On the other hand, if the patient senses that the healthcare environment is discriminating they may be reluctant to disclose important information as their sexual orientation; thus, missing important opportunities of been educated about safety and health care risks.

This decision has affected people’s behavior as individuals and public institutions such as family, young, elderly, disabled, LGTB and those with pre-existing conditions. For example, Kates & Ranji (2014) report that health care access and coverage for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGTB) community in the U.S. face opportunities and challenges when getting access to care. The authors report that LGBT individuals experience some discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, due to ongoing discrimination, access to health care have been limited to these people (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). LGBT individuals not only face discrimination when trying to receive care, but also face difficulties that limit them such as “barriers in obtaining insurance coverage, gaps in coverage, cost-related hurdles, and poor treatment by health care providers” (Kates & Ranji, 2014).

Throughout history, it is evident that inequalities and disparities are part of health systems and society. Even after all the success of activism, such as the work from the human rights movement and campaign, inequalities and disparities are still evident today. Especially within minority groups, such as LGBTQ* (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals – this is not to say that LGBTQ are the only categories when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identities, thus it is followed by a * – and racial groups. Furthermore, it is evident that within minority groups there are specific micro-level groups that experience unique and sometimes even greater amount of inequalities and disparities. For example, the micro-level group of transgender individuals from the LGBTQ* community is one of the many minority groups that experience both medical and social disparities and inequalities.This paper will discuss both the medical and social inequalities and disparities that Transgender Individuals face, including structural violence and intentional violence.

Of the study’s 25 participants, 20 were female-to-male. The authors determined the main problem for the participants was the struggle to find transgender-sensitive health care. The subjects described discrimination by healthcare systems, lack of knowledge and hostility by providers, and lack of health insurance to cover transgender-specific healthcare needs. Some of the FtM participants who had problems with pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, and a history of abnormal Pap tests kept their gender as female on their insurance so they could still get the care they needed. Using a national cross-sectional survey data set, Shires and Jaffee (2015) reported similar findings. Of the 1,711 FtM participants included in this study, 41.8 percent reported verbal harassment, physical assault, or denial of equal treatment in a doctor’s office or

For many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community, finding healthcare professionals who understand their identities and are receptive to their needs can be difficult. Many in the community feel that they have difficulties finding a practice that will respect their identity and provide them with effective and reliable care. For those specifically in the transgender community, these difficulties can increase exponentially, as many doctors are not properly trained to address the specific health needs that transgender individuals can often require. By his senior year, recent Keene State College graduate Kennedy Redden had noticed that both the staff of his school’s health center and the nearby Planned Parenthood had a distinct lack of knowledge about the needs of transgender students. Because of this, Kennedy decided to write a Transgender Health Manual for the school to use in the general education of its healthcare professionals as his senior capstone piece in Community Health.

Transgender and gender-nonconforming people (TGNC) have made progressions in gaining acceptance in the community, but still face many barriers in receiving quality health care. Designing an in-service program focused on cultural competence training for health care providers will help transgender individuals receive the quality care they deserve. The TGNC community have many unique health disparities, such as mental health issues, suicide, anxiety, AIDs, HIV and cancer. Through use of leadership, communication and education health care providers will learn how to work with diverse groups and deliver quality care. With diversity increasing throughout the nation, challenges and opportunities present themselves for health care providers and health care systems to deliver culturally competent care.

Sexual and social stigmas largely affect the health of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. While many reports from the Institute of Medicine, Healthy People 2020 and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recognize a need to improve the quality of health care, barriers still remain. LGBT patients face legal discrimination, especially with insurance, a lack of social programs, and limited access to providers competent in LGBT health care. Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to care for LGBT patients, unless these patients feel understood by providers and develop trust in the system, they are not likely to utilize care. Healthcare providers need to recognize how these vulnerabilities, as well as persistent racism and stigma linked to sexual orientation and gender identity, make the healthcare needs of LGBT patients more challenging than the general population. Healthcare providers also need to promote cultural competence within this population and broaden their clinical lens to include health promotion, in addition to addressing concerns mentioned above within the population. Additionally, medical and nursing schools need to ensure that future providers are adequately educated by including information about this population in the curriculum.

According to (Krehely, Center for American process, 2009), LGBT people have made rapid progress securing equal right. Fifteen states now give same-sex couples at least the same rights given to heterosexual married couples. Regardless of the progress, however, members of the LGBT population continue to experience not as good as there heterosexual counterparts. (Krehely, Center for American process, 2009) Issues like low rates of health insurance coverage, (Krehely, Center for American process, 2009) and stress due to systematic harassment and discrimination, with the lack of competency in the health care system. Negativity from the health care workers toward LGBT people is due to the cumulative and intersecting impact, their reduced access to the social stigma that exists against LGBT people. Transgenders reports verbally and physically the get harassed and removed from direct contact with the heterosexual population.

Even though LGBT healthcare is a need in many communities, doctors aren’t always equipped to handle LGBT patients. Medical teachers see the need for literature and education in this area, but they also are unsure of how to start the conversation when they themselves have little knowledge on the subject. (Bonvicini) Many people try to justify the lack of medical attention by citing studies that show suicide rates are still high among individuals who have transitioned and that many of them regret transitioning. However, few studies have been done on it and many times, quotes from these studies are taken out of context and are used to misrepresent the actual findings. Also, transitioning does not solve every problem a transgender person can face, to expect studies to show a complete change in transgender people post-transition would be ridiculous. Transgender people still face discrimination, intimate family struggles, etc., after transitioning that can influence things such as anxiety levels or depression. The information that should be looked at is if the individuals in question have no regrets about transitioning and if their gender dysphoria has been lessened in any way. When looking at studies, they show that transgender people don’t experience high rates of regret and they tend to have lower rates of dysphoria after transitioning. (Bevan 148,229) In order to better help transgender people, it’s important that we support education on these topics to help further advance the medical field in this area because so much misinformation is still spreading and harming their progress

In a lot of places around the world more and more people are coming out as “Transgender.” The term transgender means that the person’s gender identity does not correspond with the gender they were assigned as having at birth. From personally having a transgender boyfriend I have since realized that these people experience a lot of discrimination in and from society. Many people simply just do not understand what the term transgender means and they see it as someone just “wants to be a man” or “wants to be a woman.” While there may be people who present it this way, it is more so that the individual just “feels” different, and “feels” as if they are “in the wrong body.” Some people experience this feeling at a young age as my boyfriend did in his elementary age. We live in a world who put these people down for being who they truly are, and no human being wants or needs that.

There are many minorities in the United States of America making it one of the largest melting pots in the world. Unfortunately, due to the vast variety of people, there are many minorities that lack the proper access to healthcare resources that cater to their healthcare needs both mentally and physically. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community, also known as the LGBT community, face many hurdles when it comes to receiving the proper healthcare. They also encompass many different races, religions, ethnicities and social classes. According to a recent national and state-level population-based surveys, “8 million adults in the US are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, comprising 3.5% of the adult population” (Gates, 2011). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people face many challenges and barriers accessing the proper health services. Many of the challenges the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community faces stems from