Williams describes LGBTQ+ health disparities and gaps in medical education
Williams says LGBTQ+ individuals face higher chronic disease, mental distress, and substance use, worsened by stress. He criticizes medical education for failing to train clinicians in sexual orientation and gender identity care, forcing patients to educate providers or avoid care.
While overall insurance enrollment has improved, LGBTQ plus individuals, particularly people of more color and transgender adults, face heightened rates of chronic disease, mental distress, and substance use disorders, all of which are exacerbated by stress.
A critical driver of these disparities is a widespread deficiency in medical education, which frequently fails to equip clinicians with baseline competencies in sexual orientation and gender identity care.
Consequently, patients are routinely forced to choose between educating their own physicians, enduring misgendering and substandard treatment, or avoid the medical system entirely, which creates severe gaps in preventative and responsive public health outcomes.
When any community avoids regular care, it's bad public health for everyone.
Research demonstrates that access to gender-affirming care is associated with improved mental health outcomes among transgender and non-binary youth.
A longitudinal study found that youth who received gender-affirming medical care experienced significantly lower rates of depression and suicidality compared with those who did not receive such care.
Improved access may therefore contribute to reduced mental health crisis, greater school engagement, enhanced family stability, and better...
overall well-being.
Discrimination, barriers to care, and social stigma contributed to health disparities among transgender individuals.
Government agencies must actively address these inequities through policy and service delivery.
Today we'll hear three pieces of legislation by Councilmember Caban, which I'm a co-sponsor, Councilmember Shulman, and Councilmember Hanif.
I look forward to hearing from both advocates and the administration about these bills.
Ensuring access to gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary youth is both a public health and equity issue.
We must eliminate health care barriers and protect transgender New Yorkers from discrimination.
Expanding affirming health services, strengthening mental health supports, and safeguarding patient privacy can improve outcomes for vulnerable youth while reinforcing New York City's commitment to inclusion, dignity, and evidence-based health care policy.