Transgender Americans are experiencing poor physical and mental health more than other LGBTQ +persons, partly due to higher discrimination rates, while intersex Americans find it difficult to find or allow health care, according to new data from the American progression center (CAP) and Norc at the University of Chicago.
These results, part of a broader biennial survey on the experiences of LGBTQI + Americans Underline the disparities in terms of health facing transgender and intersex people at a time when their identity are targeted and distorted by a new presidential administration which declared war against “gender ideology”.
And these disparities can only get worse, because the Trump administration is trying to restrict affirmative care and threatens federal funding for LGBTQ +programs, according to researchers.
“I am concerned that this is a reference that already tells us a worrying story,” Cait Smith, director of LGBTQI + policies, said Liberal Center for American Progress.
The restriction of affirming care between sexes does not only allow trans people to access Hormonotherapy and surgery to alleviate gender dysphoria “This can prevent them from seeing a primary care provider,” said Smith. Medical care providers affirming sex are often the main health resource of a trans person.
“We have hospitals which are really threatened with loss of funding, with attacks of reprisals even of the administration. We are not only talking about sex-assembled care, we are talking about medical care for LGBTQ people, “they said.
When hospitals in states like Massachusetts and New York Stopping of stated care for young trans adults Following the decrees of President Donald Trump, the consequences spread beyond the affirmary care. Like the 19th previously reportedA trans adult who receives care at Nyu Langone Health said that, following Trump’s orders, his name of dead end was used almost exclusively by the hospital. For this reason, he faces a paperwork obstacle to treat the potential propagation of endometriosis in his body. He spoke under the cover of anonymity, for fear of losing access to his health care for speaking.
The new CAP survey revealed that last year, medical providers used the bad name to refer to or intentionally 26% of transgender adults; 31% of disabled transgender adults have undergone the same treatment.
This can have real consequences: Nyu Langone’s patient fears that bringing him to an MRI with personal information incorrectly to his Mount Sinai surgeon causes problems with his insurance – because Nyu Langone used his name for his MRI results. The hospital did not respond to a request for comments.
LGBTQ + adults are more likely than their peers to report or not access medical care, due to high costs, high discrimination rates and insurance challenges, CAP was revealed. This is particularly likely for trans and intersex people. Forty-five percent of trans adults and 60% of intersex adults have postponed care due to affordability, while 37% of trans adults and 45% of intersex adults postponed or did not ask for medical care when they were sick or injured due to fear of discrimination.
These data are taken from a survey of more than 3,000 adults conducted by Norc at the University of Chicago In July 2024, with an error margin of 3.06 percentage points. The survey used a representative sample at the national level of LGBTQI + and non -LGBTQI + adults of the NORC AMERISHE PANEL, as well as an LGBTQI + sample of the non -probability panel of Dynama. The final data has been balanced.
Overall, 21% of transgender people have evaluated their physical health in the past year as poor or bad, according to the CAP study, while 54% evaluated their mental health in the same way. Although intersex people have declared a significantly better physical and mental health, they are always faced with unique obstacles to access to health care.
The study revealed that intersex Americans went beyond the state to access reproductive care or abortion more than any other LGBTQ +group. Nearly 1 adult intersex in 4 said they had traveled in another state to access these care, because laws in their state prohibit or restrict it. And as LGBTQ + adults have trouble accessing mental health care, 44% of intersex adults do not feel comfortable to discuss their identity with their therapist – more often than trans adults.
Intersex persons, which represent approximately 1.7% of the world’s population, face significant stigma and medical abuses, as detailed by the The intersex rights group interacts and the Civil Rights Defense Group Human Rights Watch. As infants, many are subject to invasive procedures and surgeries which attribute a sex to them – which Let them find it difficult to find health care later in life.
Intersex people already have fewer options to find a health care provider that will deal with basic dignity and will have a basic medical understanding of their needs, said Smith – and abortion prohibitions probably only aggravate this rarity.
“Intersex people are generally more impacted, in all areas, with regard to challenges in access to affordable health care free from discrimination,” they said.
These new CAP results are aligned with existing research, said Lindsey Dawson, director of the LGBTQ health policy at KFF. LGBTQ + people – in particular transgender persons – have worse health disparities partly trained by stigma, discrimination and isolation, she said.
“These experiences can lead to truly substantial mental health difficulties, which is evolving in an environment where a policy is made in the state and now at the federal level which aims to restrict access to LGBTQ + people to care,” she said.
Although this study was carried out before the Trump administration Blitz decrees targeting transgender Americans, states were Push an unprecedented Anti -LGBTQ + invoices for years – Leaving LGBTQ + people are afraid of routine taskslike finding a new doctor. This evolutionary political landscape affects people’s well-being while making them more difficult for them to access health care, said Dawson.
“When this investigation was presented, about half of the States at that time had a ban on access to care affirmed by the sexes for young people,” she said. “He was aligned at a time when this political rhetoric accelerated. Now that the restrictions are proposed nationally by the administration, even being surrounded by this discourse can have a negative impact on well-being. »»