10 votes

Do Ask, Tell, and Show: Contextual Factors Affecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Disclosure for Sexual and Gender Minority People

4 comments

  1. [2]
    Gaywallet
    Link
    I work in healthcare and I'm in charge of a lot of data. I regularly get requests to include patient gender in data sets. My default response is to ask people why it's relevant and also to inform...

    I work in healthcare and I'm in charge of a lot of data. I regularly get requests to include patient gender in data sets. My default response is to ask people why it's relevant and also to inform them that it is not gender that we record, but patient sex. In many cases people will default to saying 'it's clinically relevant' as a way to dismiss the question. What they do not expect, is for me to continue to push and ask for them to explain the clinical relevance. Even in cases where there is clinical relevance and important relevance, I will often have a longer, in-depth discussion about the implications of the data and whether it truly answers the questions they are looking for - in many cases the clinical relevance has nothing to do with sex or gender, but actually hormones or bodily anatomy present.

    I mention this because I believe that many people collect gender without ever considering why they collect gender. Sexuality is less rarely collected, and almost never considered when data is being pulled for reporting purposes. Even when these two are collected, they often aren't worded great or don't have options which reflect all the possibilities. I believe in general some form of data literacy and people understanding the reason behind why they are requesting data is important, but I think having a meta-discussion on this and capturing the thoughts of queer individuals on how they think of data collection are important pieces of information for people who actually have queer health top of mind. Pushing for standards like an explanation of why the data is being collected and how it's going to be used I think is fantastic for the community and will help to really highlight when people are educated about queer issues and have made an effort at inclusion and equity.

    9 votes
    1. mtset
      Link Parent
      Thank you for doing this. As someone who used to work in precision medicine, my least favorite thing is when I can guess with a high confidence that a result is actually about estrogen, or having...

      in many cases the clinical relevance has nothing to do with sex or gender, but actually hormones or bodily anatomy present.

      Thank you for doing this. As someone who used to work in precision medicine, my least favorite thing is when I can guess with a high confidence that a result is actually about estrogen, or having breast tissue, or something, but all the study says is "female".

      5 votes
  2. [2]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    So, it's a study to tell researchers how to write better questions so people will answer their questions in future studies. sigh And when did "SGM" become a thing? I thought it was "GSM".

    Reasons for SOGI data collection and relevance to context were important and influenced responses. Participants looked for environmental and relational cues that communicated inclusion and safety. Researchers should consider these factors when designing studies to improve research experiences for SGM individuals and increase the likelihood of participation.

    So, it's a study to tell researchers how to write better questions so people will answer their questions in future studies. sigh

    And when did "SGM" become a thing? I thought it was "GSM".

    2 votes
    1. Gaywallet
      Link Parent
      It may have been subtle, but it didn't read so much as that, but rather as a guideline for best practices. If people get used to seeing an explanation as to why their gender or sexuality is being...

      So, it's a study to tell researchers how to write better questions so people will answer their questions in future studies. sigh

      It may have been subtle, but it didn't read so much as that, but rather as a guideline for best practices. If people get used to seeing an explanation as to why their gender or sexuality is being collected, they will be less likely to give it up to people who do not spend the time. Furthermore, it will allow them the ability to determine whether it is something they wish to divulge - someone who has a preface stating they wish to collect my sexuality so that they can understand whether there are unique needs for sexual minorities may or may not get that information out of me, it really depends on what the context is. If it's a service I'm signing up for or paying to provide me software or something else I'll likely scoff at that information and not provide it. But if my sexuality is relevant to the service they provide, I'll probably be more likely.

      SGM and GSM have been interchangeable for awhile now, it's just whether you put sexuality or gender first. Sometimes you'll also see other acronyms like GSRM (gender, sexual, and relationship minorities) which one can argue is more explicitly inclusive but gets to the usual debate about how many letters to include. I personally am a fan of the simple 'queer' to capture these minority statuses and others as queer simply means abnormal and could theoretically apply to many other identities not always considered under the same umbrella but which face real social pressures and stigmas.

      4 votes