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I’m beyond excited to share the results from our 
off the press paper from @ThePRIDEStudy: a qualitative study of how current sexual orientation and gender identity questions in research don’t meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people. 
A
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-020-01810-y
off the press paper from @ThePRIDEStudy: a qualitative study of how current sexual orientation and gender identity questions in research don’t meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people. A
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-020-01810-y
Despite being >5% of the population, LGBTQ+ folks are largely invisible in research b/c data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) is rarely collected. And even when they’re asked, SOGI questions don’t meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people. https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx
So we did a large study of focus groups and interviews to asking LGBTQ+ participants, “How are SOGI questions limited, and how can they be improved?”
As a primer for everyone, we all need to first understand sexual orientation (SO) =/= gender identity (GI).
SO is the interplay b/w sexual/romantic attraction, behaviors, & how you identify as a sexual identity (gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, etc). These are different axes, and because someone has X attraction does not mean they will have Y behaviors or Z orientation, & vice versa.
GI is about what someone identifies as their gender (man, woman, trans man, trans woman, non-binary, etc) & this can be different from sex assigned at birth. Just because someone may identify as a man & assigned female at birth, they may not necessarily identify as transgender.
Major finding #1: Overwhelmingly SOGI questions were too rigid and didn’t allow for the complexity of peoples’ identities. Most SOGI questions referred to SO or GI as static characteristics, but both SO and GI can be dynamic for a person.
SOGI questions could be improved if questions had more inclusive response choices or asked questions that acknowledged and included the possibility for dynamic identities or change over time.
Major finding #2: SOGI questions often weren’t clear enough! For example, for SO, when asked “What do you see yourself as?”, folks weren’t sure if this was asking about sexual/romantic behavior, attraction, or identity.
When questions weren’t clear, people either gave different answers or didn’t respond at all. Questions needed to be specific about what aspect of SO was being assessed.
Further, for GI, as mentioned above, many folks who researchers and doctors may consider to be transgender, don’t actually identify as transgender but use the label when needed, like when they need to tell their history to their doctors.
For example, when asked “What is your gender?”, many weren’t sure if the transgender label was needed (“Do they need to know I have female plumbing?”)
We made recommendations in the paper of how future SOGI questions could be improved, and directions for future testing.
Major thanks to @SFCHC415 @SFLGBTCenter @rainbowcentr for their contributions and help on this study! And a million thanks to the amazing team @ThePRIDEStudy, especially @ObedinMaliver and @MitchellLunn for their incredible mentorship
