Ryan Scout_FTM

The National Center for Transgender Equality #NCTE has just released a sheet that lists 9 facts about sexual and reproductive health related to transgender individuals. This is one of the many areas that I am the most passionate about, getting people into providers, and having these providers trained to competently serve the community. If you are starting conversations with organizations or providers desiring to learn more and spread more knowledge, perhaps these 9 facts will be a way to get through the door. 

In celebration of National LGBT Health Awareness Week, NCTE has released this preview of a fact sheet, Transgender Sexual and Reproductive Health: Unmet Needs and Barriers to Care.  The full fact sheet will include policy recommendations for the medical community to improve the delivery of health care. Join our mailing list to get your copy of the final fact sheet.

Key facts on sexual and reproductive health for transgender people:

1. Transgender people may have sexual partners who are men, women, or both. A transgender person’s partners or sexual history cannot be assumed from their gender identity or the gender they were assigned at birth.

2. Transgender people need preventive health screenings. Standard preventive health screenings are generally recommended for the body parts a patient has regardless of that patient’s gender identity, including breast, cervical, and prostate cancer screenings.

3. Transgender people are at high risk for HIV and other STI infections. According to the CDC, transgender people experience HIV infection at four times the national population level. African-American and Latino/a transgender people are at especially high risk for HIV and other STIs.

4. Many transgender men who have sex with men are at risk for unintended pregnancy as well as STIs. Transgender men who have sex with men report high rates of unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. Some transgender men report being more concerned about pregnancy than HIV and other STIs.

5. Marginalization and abuse increase health risks for transgender people. Transgender people face high rates of social and economic marginalization, as well as high rates of physical and sexual abuse. Transgender and gender nonconforming youth are particularly at risk for sexual abuse and for engaging in commercial or survival sex.

6. Transgender people are often reluctant to seek sexual and reproductive health care. One in three transgender people, and 48% of transgender men, have delayed or avoided preventive health care such as pelvic exams or STI screening out of fear of discrimination or disrespect. One survey reported that half of transgender men did not receive annual pelvic exams. Reasons included discomfort with the physical exam due to gender issues (40%), lack of money or insurance (13%), lack of a medical provider they were comfortable with (13%), and thinking they did not need pelvic exams (7%). Another survey found that transgender teens, including those at risk for unintended pregnancy, were reluctant to go to a family planning clinic.

7. Transgender people lack access to relevant health information. Sexual health education for youth and adults rarely addresses transgender people’s bodies and identities. For example, transgender men who have sex with men report a lack of adequate information about their sexual health at rates as high as 93.8%.

8. Providers often lack appropriate clinical knowledge. While treating transgender patients does not require special expertise, providers often lack basic knowledge about transgender people and their health needs. In a nationwide survey, 50% of transgender people reported having to teach a health care provider about providing appropriate care.

9. Many providers still turn transgender patients away. In national surveys, 19% to 27% of transgender people report being turned away by health care providers who refused to provide care for them. Outright refusals of care occur across all types of providers, including providers of sexual and reproductive health care.

One of the reasons I’m happy that I decided to join Tumblr is I feel this site has more soul and energy than any other social network. While scrolling through the dashboard one can happen across scholarly debates regarding the use of terms like sex or gender and then below that see a pornographic image or cute cuddly animal…There are many layers to this site, it is in it’s own way, a representation of being human. 

Intellectualism, sexuality, humor, escape, questioning, anger, sadness and love. 

Yesterday I posted an image that has been produced by the website www.itsprounouncedmetrosexual.com. The slide showed a gingerbread person (ten years ago the person would have been referred to as a gingerbread “man”) and then had scales representing sex, identity, expression and orientation. I posted this because a while back I posted their 1.0 version and I like to follow up when things I post have been updated or changed. The slide is something I wouldn’t use in and of itself because there could be misinterpretations or confusion about what is even happening on the slide and I often find it difficult to try and lump sexual orientation into a concept exploring gender. I posted it because it shows an increased desire to go beyond boxes and it also shows how even depictions that seem awing and new to some is lacking for others (evolution at its finest).

Oftentimes when I present to audiences I try to help people understand the complexities of one’s sexuality, body, identity, expression/presentation, orientation etc, through a slide that breaks down biological sex (composition of one’s anatomy (both internal/external), chromosomes, and hormones), gender identity (psychological sense of self), gender expression (communication of gender-socially constructed) and sexual orientation (romantic, erotic and affectional). 

When I discuss these concepts it isn’t to focus on a binary or a line, it is used to open up people’s awareness of how complex and deep our layers run, much like Tumblr. Our sex isn’t determined by what is between our legs, our gender isn’t either/or man/woman, our orientation doesn’t exist on a scale of heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, assexual and our orientation isn’t determined by our sex, identity or expression. 

I love to see people discuss their reactions to certain concepts or images used to depict them because I think it allows us to ask more questions and to explore more ways to communicate to audiences that have no clue anything exists beyond XX/XY. 

Something I’d love to see more on Tumblr are people showing through art, photography, and writing their own interpretations/views of being human and the struggles/pressures felt living in a gendered society. I see a huge shift coming with people ages 23 and younger. I see an awareness and exploration of our sexuality going beyond what some people will ever be able to understand. I see younger generations changing what society and our brains have been conditioned to use as the very foundation of communication and socialization, which is, gender. 

If people are interested in doing a mass project titled, Beyond Gender, start creating and using this as a tag or title….I want to see creation, emotion and the layers of being human go deeper on this site!

Check out the article focusing on the new issue of Original Plumbing, Platonic Love. 

If you fulfill the below criteria, consider participating in this research study.

Participate in a research project designed by and for the transgender community to promote sexual health for transgender people and their partners.

All Gender Health is an interactive website designed in collaboration with transgender communities across the country. We invite you to participate in the evaluation of the site and its impact on your health and well-being.

Are you:

·          18 or older

·         A transgender man or woman

Who:

·         Has had unsafe sex with a man within the last 3 months

·         Lives in the United States 

If so, you’re invited to log onto

www.allgenderhealth.org to see if you qualify to participate in the study.

Participants can earn up to $180.00 by completing surveys and online activities on topics ranging from identity and community to intimacy and resilience.

This study is being conducted by a team of researchers from the Program in Human Sexuality, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School with the support of a national, transgender community advisory board (Principal Investigator, Walter Bockting, PhD).

Thank you for your interest!

Chris J. Hoefer

Project Coordinator

All Gender Health Online
https://www.allgenderhealth.org/

Program in Human Sexuality
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
University of Minnesota Medical School
1300 South Second Street, Suite 180
Minneapolis, Minnesota  55454
www.phs.umn.edu
(612) 625 - 0301(direct)
(612) 625 - 1500 (front office)
(612) 626 - 8311 (fax)
hoefer@umn.edu

I’m intrigued by Stephen, his history, openness on sexuality and unfiltered thoughts. Although the Enquirer tries to sensationalize Stephen’s romantic relationship….with a man “gasp” ;) and his openness about talking about sexuality and sex “double and triple gasp” … I think the article otherwise shows Stephen’s energy and spirit. http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/warren-beatty-transgender-son-sex-secrets

The Brown Boi Project who, “describe themselves as a community of masculine of center womyn, men, two-spirit people, transmen and allies ‘who are committed to transforming our privilege of masculinity, gender and race into tools for achieving Racial and Gender Justice.’” Has developed this guide, if you are interested I suggest buying it! Here is a link to the article with more information: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2012/01/freeing-ourselves-guide-health-and-self-love-brown-bois