Sexual Health - LGBT
Coming Out
Coming out is an ongoing process. Once a GLBTQ person "comes out" to him or herself, the next steps involve letting others know. Others may include one's family members, friends, employers, co-workers, health care professionals, etc. This is a life-long process requiring an ongoing commitment and choices faced every day about who to tell...Cass (1979) developed six stages of identity formation for GLBT people:
- Identity confusion: "Am I gay?"
- Information seeking or denial could occur.
- Identity comparison: "I might be gay."
- Individual begins to accept the possibility s/he might be GLBT and begins to deal with those feelings.
- Identity tolerance: "I'm not the only gay person."
- Individual seeks contact with GLBTQ community to meet needs.
- Identity acceptance: "I accept I'm gay."
- Person accepts rather than tolerates a gay self-identity.
- Identity pride: "I AM GAY!"
- Individual feels as if s/he must let people know who s/he is, especially regarding sexual orientation.
- Identity synthesis: "I am gay."
- GLBTQ identity becomes integrated with other aspects of self as just one identity for this person.
Definitions
Lesbian: Women who form their primary loving and sexual relationships with other women. Some lesbians prefer the term lesbian while others use the term gay
Gay: 1. Term used in some cultural settings to represent males who are attracted to males in a romantic, erotic and/or emotional sense. Not all men who engage in same sex behavior identify as gay or bisexual. 2. Sometimes used to refer to the GLBTQ community as a whole, or as an individual identity label for anyone who does not identify as heterosexual.
Bisexual: A person emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted to persons of either sex. This attraction does not have to be equally split between genders and there may be a preference for one sex or gender over others.
What is the difference between sexual orientation, sex, sex identity and gender identity?
Gender Identity: Is a person's sense of being masculine, feminine, or other gendered; the gender to which one feels they belong.
Sex: Being male or female as determined by biological chromosomes and body chemistry. The two primary sexes are male and female.
Sex Identity: How a person identifies physically: female, male, in between, beyond, or neither.
Sexual Orientation: Refers to whom one is affectionately, emotionally, and sexually attracted based on gender and sex characteristics.
What are the differences between persons who identify as transgender vs. transsexual and intersex vs. intergender?
Transgender: Broadly defined as anyone who reassigned the sex or gender they were assigned at birth, or whose gender expression is considered nontraditional for their sex or gender, such as transsexuals, crossdressers, drag artists, androgynous people, genderqueers, masculine women, feminine men, and other gender variant individuals.
Transsexual: A person who identifies psychologically as one gender/sex other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Transsexual refers to people who change or have changed their bodies hormonally and surgically to match their inner sense of gender/sex.
Intersex: Persons with genitalia that are not distinctly male or female.
Intergender: A person whose gender identity is between genders or a combination of genders.
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Sexual Health:
- Test regularly for STIs.
- Get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B.
- Play Safe!
- If engaging in anal sex--Get an anal Pap smear.
- Find an LGBT-friendly provider.
- Consider coming out to your doctor.
Smoking:
- Gay and bisexual men are twice as likely as non-gay men to smoke cigarettes. Lesbians are more likely to be heavy smokers than are non-gay women. THe transgender community has the highest smoking rates within the LGBT community.
- Factors Contributing to these rates include:
- The "bar culture" in which the LGBT community socializes
- Minority Stress (experience higher levels of anxiety)
- Belief that smoking is glamorous and sexy.
- Factors Contributing to these rates include:
Health problems related to smoking
- Heart disease
- Lung Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Breast Cancer
Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence:
Same-sex partners experience intimate partner violence at the same rate as heterosexual couples. In fact, it may be greater since many LGBT persons do not report domestic violence incidents to authorities.
Visit: http://www.ncavp.org or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-779-SAFE or call the Rape Spouse Abuse Crisis Center at 475-7273
Same-sex partners experience intimate partner violence at the same rate as heterosexual couples. In fact, it may be greater since many LGBT persons do not report domestic violence incidents to authorities.
- Domestic Violece is often associated with physical abuse such as hitting or pushing.
- Emotional and verbal abuse, intimidation and threats, and sexual violence are all acts of Intimate Partner Violence.
Visit: http://www.ncavp.org or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-779-SAFE or call the Rape Spouse Abuse Crisis Center at 475-7273
Hepatitis:
Viral hepatitis is a serious infection that affects the liver. It can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. Although hepatitis can affect anyone, men who have sex with men and transgender people are at particular risk for two distinct types of the virus--hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
To Lower Risk: Get vaccinated! http://www.glma.org/hepatitis | UHC Immunizations
Viral hepatitis is a serious infection that affects the liver. It can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. Although hepatitis can affect anyone, men who have sex with men and transgender people are at particular risk for two distinct types of the virus--hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
- Hepatitis A is spread primarily by contact with contaminated food or water, rimming, handling a used condom or sex toys, or butt play. For hep A there is a vaccine.
- Hepatitis B is transmitted through bodily fluids (blood, semen, saliva), through unprotected sexual contact and sharing needles. For hep B there is a vaccine.
- Hepatitis C is spread predominantly through sharing needles. Some cases have resulted from non-sterile piercings and tattooing. For hepatitis C there is no vaccine.
To Lower Risk: Get vaccinated! http://www.glma.org/hepatitis | UHC Immunizations
Genital Warts and HPV:
Genital Warts are caused by an HPV infection (a virus). HPV spreads between sexual partners during close skin-to-skin contact. Penetration isn't necessary and condoms may not provide enough protection. HPV can infect the anal and genital region, causing genital warts or pre-cancerous growths that can lead to anal and cervical cancer. HPV can be treated.
Cancer:
Because many of us delay routine medical care due to past negative experiences with providers and fear of mistreatment, we are less likely to receive vital cancer prevention education, early detection, and access to treatment.
Nutrition and Weight:
Weight is culturally and socially linked to body image, discrimination and self-esteem. Persons who are overweight or obese are at increased risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, sleeping disorders, respiratory problems and some types of cancer.
Malnutrition, protein depletion, weight loss, body fat distribution and metabolic changes are common complications associated with HIV infection in the U.S.
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Genital Warts are caused by an HPV infection (a virus). HPV spreads between sexual partners during close skin-to-skin contact. Penetration isn't necessary and condoms may not provide enough protection. HPV can infect the anal and genital region, causing genital warts or pre-cancerous growths that can lead to anal and cervical cancer. HPV can be treated.
Cancer:
Because many of us delay routine medical care due to past negative experiences with providers and fear of mistreatment, we are less likely to receive vital cancer prevention education, early detection, and access to treatment.
Nutrition and Weight:
Weight is culturally and socially linked to body image, discrimination and self-esteem. Persons who are overweight or obese are at increased risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, sleeping disorders, respiratory problems and some types of cancer.
Malnutrition, protein depletion, weight loss, body fat distribution and metabolic changes are common complications associated with HIV infection in the U.S.
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Specifics to Group
Lesbian
Rates of ovarian cancer are higher among women who have not been pregnant or used oral contraceptives. Lesbians access gynecological care less frequently than heterosexual women, which can result in later diagnosis of cervical, ovarian or breast cancer.
Gay and Bisexual
- Recent studies indicate that unsafe sex practices have increased--perhaps spurred by drug use--and resulted in alarming rise in STI rates among gay men in some cities.
- Among gay and bisexual men, more than half of HIV-negative and 90 percent of HIV-positive men carry HPV.
- Gay men have a greater risk of anal cancer due primarily to an increased rate of HPV infection. Colorectal cancers can be reduced by early detection, removal of pre-cancerous polyps, and access to treatment in the earliest stages of the disease.
- Studies have found that while attempting to navigate the rocky shoals between negative body image and the gay male "ideal," there is a significantly increased risk of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and purging. Younger gay men are particularly at risk.
Transgender
- Sex Reassignment Surgery - If you want Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), follow the Standards of Care of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA).
- Mental Health - Living in an intolerant world can cause stress, anxiety, and depression. A mental health professional can really help you deal with this.
- Helpful websites:
- or contact CAPS at the University Health Center - 472-7450
- Smoking - Increases the risk of heart disease in transmen who take testosterone.
- Sexual Health - Protect yourself from infections gotten through contact with blood, semen and other sexual body fluids. Use condoms, dental dams and/or other latex barriers with sex partners. Take care of your prosthesis and/or sex toys--use condoms and clean them properly. If you engage in unsafe sex, be sure to get tested for Sexually Transmitted Infections like HIV/AIDS.
- Smoking - Increases risk of blood clots in transwomen who take estrogen
- Sexual Health - Use condoms or a protective barrier with your sex partners. If you've engaged in unsafe sex, be sure to get tested for Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
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