Pride Is Care: Why LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Is a Public Health Priority

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate identity, visibility, and progress, but Pride is also a call to action. 

For many LGBTQIA+ individuals, accessing safe, affirming, and evidence-based sexual healthcare is not guaranteed. At the SHE+ Foundation, we believe Pride month must include advocacy for care that is inclusive, informed, and equitable. 

That means confronting the reality: LGBTQIA+ sexual health disparities are not inevitable. They are the result of systems that were not built with everyone in mind. 

The Reality 

LGBTQIA+ individuals face significant barriers to healthcare access, quality, and outcomes. 

The research shows: 

• LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to delay or avoid care due to fear of discrimination (American Medical Association, 2021).

• Transgender and nonbinary individuals, in particular, report high rates of healthcare mistreatment, including being refused care or having to educate their providers (James et al., 2016).

• Lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to receive routine preventive screenings, including cervical cancer screenings (Charlton et al., 2011).

Disparities are not about a lack of clinical evidence, they are about structural gaps in training, research, and clinical practice.

Sexual health research has historically centered heterosexual, cisgender populations. This has led to gaps in understanding LGBTQ+ sexual function and pain, limited data on hormone-related sexual health outcomes and lack of inclusive clinical guidelines

According to the World Health Organization, sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.

But without inclusive research, that definition is not being fully realized.

For LGBTQ+ patients, this can mean symptoms that are misunderstood or dismissed, care plans that do not reflect lived experience, and a lack of language, and therefore validation, for what they are experiencing. 

When we are silent on LGBTQIA+ Sexual Health, there are consequences. LGBTQIA+ individuals experience: 

• Anxiety and depression linked to healthcare discrimination (Meyer, 2003)

• Sexual health concerns that go unaddressed due to lack of provider knowledge

• Delayed diagnoses and untreated conditions

Due to systemic dismissal, in many cases, patients are forced into the role of educator… explaining their identities, bodies, and needs in spaces that should already be equipped to support them.

Research, and the work SHE+ supports, points to clear solutions.

Inclusive sexual healthcare requires:

• Provider training in LGBTQ+ health competencies

• Inclusive data collection that reflects gender identity and sexual orientation

• Patient-centered communication that affirms identity and experience

• Research funding focused on LGBTQ+ sexual health outcomes

When providers are trained and systems are inclusive patients are more likely to seek care, preventive screenings increase, and health outcomes improve (Kcomt et al., 2020)

At the SHE+ Foundation, we are working to close the gaps where LGBTQ+ individuals have been historically overlooked.

Through our funding and advocacy, we support research that includes LGBTQ+ populations in sexual health studies, clinical education that equips providers to deliver affirming care, and initiatives that address disparities in access, outcomes, and experience.

Pride is not just about being seen. It is about being supported.

This Pride Month, we invite you to think beyond visibility. Think about access. Think about equity. Think about the systems that shape care, and how we can change them.

At SHE+, we believe sexual health is general health, inclusive research is essential, and care should meet people exactly where they are. 

References: 

American Medical Association. (2021). Advancing health equity for LGBTQ+ patients.

Charlton, B. M., Corliss, H. L., Missmer, S. A., et al. (2011). Influence of sexual orientation on gynecologic health and screening. American Journal of Public Health, 101(12), 2237–2245.

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., et al. (2016). The report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. National Center for Transgender Equality.

Kcomt, L., Gorey, K. M., Barrett, B. J., & McCabe, S. E. (2020). Healthcare avoidance due to anticipated discrimination among transgender people. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 59(4), 563–571.

Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697.

World Health Organization. (2006). Defining sexual health: Report of a technical consultation on sexual health.