Cruel and Unusual: Reforming Carceral Systems to Protect and Affirm Transgender and Gender-Diverse Communities.

Transgender and gender-diverse communities are disproportionately incarcerated in the USA. Incarcerated gender minority populations are detained within carceral systems constructed around a cisgender (gender identity matches sex assigned at birth) binary (only male and female identities recognized) understanding of gender. This leads to marginalizing experiences while perpetuating the extreme vulnerability individuals experience in the community.

Factors associated with transmasculine adults recently engaging in sexual behavior with partners of unknown STI and HIV status.

The sexual partnerships of transmasculine (TM) adults-those assigned female at birth who identify as transgender men or a masculine spectrum gender identity-and characteristics associated with STI/HIV risk behavior remains understudied. Participants in the current study were TM adults (n = 141) receiving care at a community health center in Boston, Massachusetts between March 2015 and September 2016. Using generalized estimating equations, we examined individual- and partnership-level factors associated with TM adults' odds of engaging in sexual behavior with a sexual partner of unknown STI/HIV status in the past 12 months.

Individual- and Partnership-Level Correlates of Protective Barrier Use in a Sample of Transmasculine Adults with Diverse Sexual Partnerships.

The sexual partnerships of transmasculine adults-who were assigned female at birth and identify on the masculine gender continuum-remain understudied. This includes characteristics of transmasculine adults' sexual partnerships associated with engaging in HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) sexual risk behavior. This study examined individual- and partnership-level factors of transmasculine adults' sexual partnerships associated with using a protective barrier during sexual activity.

Designing a Transgender Health Training for Correctional Health Care Providers: A Feasibility Study.

Limited provider knowledge on transgender health contributes to stigmatizing interactions and access-to-care challenges for incarcerated transgender people. Drawing on interviews with recently incarcerated transgender individuals and correctional staff, we developed and piloted a transgender health training for correctional healthcare providers. Providers indicated that the training provided them with the requisite competencies to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients.

Creating, reinforcing, and resisting the gender binary: a qualitative study of transgender women's healthcare experiences in sex-segregated jails and prisons.

Purpose Incarcerated transgender women often require healthcare to meet their physical-, mental-, and gender transition-related health needs; however, their healthcare experiences in prisons and jails and interactions with correctional healthcare providers are understudied. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In 2015, 20 transgender women who had been incarcerated in the USA within the past five years participated in semi-structured interviews about their healthcare experiences while incarcerated.

Test performance and acceptability of self- versus provider-collected swabs for high-risk HPV DNA testing in female-to-male trans masculine patients.

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) causes virtually all cervical cancers. Trans masculine (TM) people (those assigned female at birth who identify with a gender other than female) have low uptake of conventional cervical cancer screening. Self-collected hrHPV DNA testing has high levels of acceptability among cisgender (non-transgender) females and may support increased cervical cancer screening uptake in TM individuals.

Sensitive Health Topics With Underserved Patient Populations: Methodological Considerations for Online Focus Group Discussions.

Online focus group discussions provide an anonymous environment to assess sensitive, health-related experiences that may be difficult to discuss utilizing traditional face-to-face modalities, particularly for marginalized populations such as female-to-male trans masculine (TM) transgender individuals. This article reviews the history, advantages, and disadvantages of online focus groups, with an emphasis for research about sensitive issues with stigmatized, rare, and/or geographically dispersed patient populations. The article then evaluates the success of online focus group discussions as a case study using data from four asynchronous online focus groups conducted between September 2015 and February 2016 that explored topics related to sexual health care access with U.

Victimization and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Related Risk Among Transgender Women in India: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Globally, transgender women (TGW) experience multiple forms of victimization such as violence and discrimination that can place them at risk for poor sexual health. To date, research overlooks the heterogeneity in experiences of victimization among TGW. Furthermore, few studies have examined the association between victimization and sexual risk among TGW in India, despite the high burden of HIV and victimization in this community.

Factors Associated with Medical Doctors' Intentions to Discriminate Against Transgender Patients in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Purpose: Transgender people are frequent targets of discrimination. Discrimination against transgender people in the context of healthcare can lead to poor health outcomes and facilitate the growth of health disparities. This study explores factors associated with medical doctors' intentions to discriminate against transgender people in Malaysia.

Characterizing the HIV Prevention and Care Continua in a Sample of Transgender Youth in the U.S.

In the U.S., transgender and other gender minority (TG) youth are an at-risk group understudied in HIV prevention and treatment.

Improving correctional healthcare providers' ability to care for transgender patients: Development and evaluation of a theory-driven cultural and clinical competence intervention.

Rationale: Correctional healthcare providers' limited cultural and clinical competence to care for transgender patients represents a barrier to care for incarcerated transgender individuals.

Objective: The present study aimed to adapt, deliver, and evaluate a transgender cultural and clinical competence intervention for correctional healthcare providers.

Method: In the summer of 2016, a theoretically-informed, group-based intervention to improve transgender cultural and clinical competence was delivered to 34 correctional healthcare providers in New England.

Barriers to Gender Transition-Related Healthcare: Identifying Underserved Transgender Adults in Massachusetts.

The present study sought to examine whether individual (e.g., age, gender), interpersonal (e.

"What's the right thing to do?" Correctional healthcare providers' knowledge, attitudes and experiences caring for transgender inmates.

Rational: Incarcerated transgender individuals may need to access physical and mental health services to meet their general and gender-affirming (e.g., hormones, surgery) medical needs while incarcerated.

Comparing self- and provider-collected swabbing for HPV DNA testing in female-to-male transgender adult patients: a mixed-methods biobehavioral study protocol.

Background: Cervical cancer, nearly all cases of which are caused by one of several high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus (hr-HPV), leads to significant morbidity and mortality in individuals with a cervix. Trans masculine (TM) individuals were born with female reproductive organs and identify as male, man, transgender man, or another diverse gender identity different from their female assigned sex at birth. Routine preventive sexual health screening of TM patients is recommended, including screening for cervical cancer and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs); however, as many as one in three TM patients are not up-to-date per recommended U.

The role of distress intolerance in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and problematic alcohol use among Latin American MSM.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and its well-documented association with substance use in adulthood, little research has examined the psychological mechanisms underlying this association. The current study utilized a large, multinational sample of MSM in Latin America to examine the role of distress intolerance (i.e.

Social Context of Depressive Distress in Aging Transgender Adults.

This study investigates the relationship between discrimination and mental health in aging transgender adults. Survey responses from 61 transgender adults above 50 ( M = 57.7, SD = 5.

Victimization and depressive symptomology in transgender adults: The mediating role of avoidant coping.

Victimization and depressive distress symptoms represent serious and interconnected public health problems facing transgender communities. Avoidant coping is hypothesized to temporarily alleviate the stress of victimization, but has potential long-term mental and behavioral health costs, such as increasing the probability of depressive symptoms. A community sample of 412 transgender adults (M age = 32.

"You Can't Just Walk Down the Street and Meet Someone": The Intersection of Social-Sexual Networking Technology, Stigma, and Health Among Gay and Bisexual Men in the Small City.

Social-sexual networking technologies have been reported to yield both psychosocial benefits and sexual risks for gay and bisexual men, yet little research has explored how technology interacts with the social-geographical environment to shape the health of gay and bisexual men in the relatively understudied environment of small cities. This article draws on 29 semistructured interviews examining the use of social-sexual networking technologies among racially diverse gay and bisexual men in two small cities. Questions probed participants' use of technology to meet sexual partners, engagement in the gay community, and the role of virtual and nonvirtual spaces in relation to health.

Geographic and Individual Differences in Healthcare Access for U.S. Transgender Adults: A Multilevel Analysis.

Purpose: To identify geographic and individual-level factors associated with healthcare access among transgender people in the United States.

Methods: Multilevel analyses were conducted to investigate lifetime healthcare refusal using national data from 5831 U.S.

'The big ole gay express': sexual minority stigma, mobility and health in the small city.

Recent research has examined how gay and bisexual men experience and navigate the variations in sexual minority stigma that exist across geographic contexts, with implications for their health. We extend this literature on stigma, mobility, and health by considering the unique and understudied setting of the small city. Drawing on semi-structured interviews (n = 29) conducted in two small US cities (New Haven and Hartford), we find that these small cities serve as both destinations and points of departure for gay and bisexual men in the context of stigma.

A Systematic Review of the Effects of Hormone Therapy on Psychological Functioning and Quality of Life in Transgender Individuals.

Objectives: To review evidence from prospective cohort studies of the relationship between hormone therapy and changes in psychological functioning and quality of life in transgender individuals accessing hormone therapy over time.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and PubMed were searched for relevant studies from inception to November 2014. Reference lists of included studies were hand searched.