Promoting Health Equality and Nondiscrimination for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health Vol. 66; no. 6; pp. 761 - 765
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-06-2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Adolescents; Childbirth & labor; Cisgender; Discrimination; Equality; Evidence based research; Gender dysphoria; Gender equity; Gender identity; Gender-affirming care; Health care access; Health disparities; Health promotion; Medical personnel; Mental depression; Stigma; Teenagers; Transgender persons; Young adults; Youth
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.016

Adolescent and young adult health-care providers often care for transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth—youth whose gender identity is incongruent with the gender assigned to them at birth. This patient population faces health challenges distinct from their cisgender peers (i.e., youth whose gender identity aligns with their assigned gender at birth), which include the health impacts from gender dysphoria and from societal stigma and discrimination. SAHM encourages adolescent and young adult health-care providers to receive training in providing culturally effective, evidence-based care for TGD youth; calls for more research on gender-affirming health care; and advocates for policies that protect the rights of TGD youth and minimize barriers to attaining healthcare. Consistent with other medical organizations, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine promotes the call for gender affirmation as a mainstay of treatment and is opposed to the notion that diversity in gender is pathological.