Tag Archives: Medical care

Last week the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) issued a long-awaited and groundbreaking study — the largest ever — of transgender and gender non-conforming people and their experiences of discrimination, Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (available at http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf).  The study is truly fascinating, providing “proof” of things many of us knew, but also providing a heretofore invisible mapping of the transgender community’s tremendous diversity.   Over the next few days and weeks, GrayPrideParade and its parent organization, FORGE, will write and post here a series of articles on this 200-page report, highlighting specific topics.  Today, it’s “fast facts” about transgender and gender non-conforming people’s experiences with health care, including some facts health care practitioners ought to know about who is walking through their doors.

“I was forced to have a pelvic exam by a doctor when I went in for a sore throat.  The doctor invited others to look at me while he examined me and talked to them about my genitals.” 

Experiences of abuse and discrimination

• 28% had been subjected to harassment in a medical setting
• 26% had been physically assaulted in at least one health care setting
• 24% had been denied equal treatment at a doctor’s office or hospital
• 19% had been refused medical care due to being transgender or gender non-conforming (the rate was higher for transgender people of color)
• 13% had been denied equal treatment at an emergency room
• 10% had been sexually assaulted in at least one health care setting

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