Transgender Health
DoD Policies
Understanding Transgender Health Issues
- Approximately 0.6% of adults in the United States, or 1.4 million individuals, identify as transgender. An estimated 13,000 transgender troops are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. military. Transgender people are twice as likely to have military service compared to the cisgender population. ("Still Serving in Silence: Transgender Service Members and Veterans in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey"; LGBTQ Policy Journal, Vol. 3)
- Transgender individuals face health disparities linked to societal stigma, discrimination, and denial for civil and human rights. This discrimination has been associated with high rates of psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, suicide, victimization, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and more. Assuming patients are cisgender and lack of transgender competent training in healthcare can create barriers around providing appropriate care, testing, and screening for transgender patients, which perpetuates the health disparity.
- Factsheet - Understanding Sexual Orientation and Sexual Idenity (NMCPHC)
- Healthy People 2020: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health
- Transgender Health (CDC)
- Factsheet - Sexual Health for Transwomen (UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender Health)
- How Many Adults Identify as Transgender in the United States (The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law)
- Redefining Safe Spaces for Transgender Patients (USC Dept of Nursing)