According to The National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Report on Health and Health Care, a report of more than 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming people, access to health care “is regularly denied to transgender and gender non-conforming people.”¹ Key findings include:
Nearly one in five reported being refused care outright.
- 28% of participants postponed medical care when sick or injured,
- 28% of respondents were subjected to harassment within medical settings.
- 50% of the sample reported having to teach their medical providers about transgender care,highlighting significant gaps in provider knowledge.
Respondents reported more than four times the national average of HIV infection. Rates for transgender women, those unemployed, or who have engaged in sex work were even higher. - A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide, compared to 1.6% of the general population.
The report also found that when transgender people get the care they need, they experience significant benefits; 78% of transgender people reported improved psychological functioning after receiving gender-confirming treatment. Similarly, Olson and colleagues found that children supported in their gender identity and allowed to transition socially do not have elevated levels of depression and only minimal elevations in anxiety, suggesting that psychopathology is not inevitable for these children.²
¹http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/resources_and_tools/ntds_report_on_health.pdf
²Olson KR, DurwoodLl, DeMeules M, McLaughlin KA; Pediatrics; February 2016