Welcome to our resource page for healthcare providers. This page offers resources to help you better serve your LGBTQ+ patients, even if you identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community yourself.
How to Be an Ally: General Resources
It’s wonderful that you want to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ people in your life! Allies help to make the world a safer place for everyone. Scroll down to see more resources, but keep these four tenets of allyship in mind:
General Resources for Allies:
Resources on Pronouns:
In elementary school, we’re taught about the different parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Pronouns are another part of speech, and personal pronouns — words that are used in place of a person’s name — are what we’re discussing in this section.
- Allyship requires action. Being an ally isn’t just about believing that LGBTQ+ people should be able to live safe, fulfilling lives; it’s about acting on those beliefs. This means learning to use trans people’s pronouns correctly, vocally standing up for LGBTQ+ people in your daily life, and supporting legislation and social change that respects LGBTQ+ dignity. LGBTQ+ people should be able to recognize you as an ally by your actions; this is how you can materially improve life for this community.
- Allyship is intersectional. The LGBTQ+ community is a diverse one. Supporting LGBTQ+ people means supporting people of color, disabled people, people from cultures outside your own, people who speak different languages, people of all shapes and sizes, people of all ages, and people whose religious and political beliefs are different from yours. You may disagree on a fundamental level with some LGBTQ+ people on subjects that matter to you. Being an ally means recognizing that the rights and acceptance that LGBTQ+ people are fighting for go beyond those differences. These are human rights.
- Allyship is educated. To be a good ally, it’s important to have up-to-date info about the state of the LGBTQ+ community. This means following the news and knowing about the laws that affect LGBTQ+ people in your area. It means knowing which terms are hurtful and which are affirming. If you’re a doctor, it can mean reading recent studies about medical transition. Staying educated also means being aware of the LGBTQ+ people in your life: Are their basic needs provided for? Are you using the right name and pronouns?
- Allyship is a responsibility. When someone who presents themself as an ally doesn’t live up to these standards and lets down an LGBTQ+ person who trusted them, it may not only impact the relationship between the two; it can also make the LGBTQ+ person less likely to reach out for help and support in other areas of their life, fearing similar disappointment. For this reason, it’s important that allies embrace their privilege and do their best to support LGBTQ+ people whenever they’re given the opportunity.
General Resources for Allies:
- UP provides trainings for local schools, medical facilities, companies, churches, and other community organizations. If you think a group that you belong to would benefit from a training (most do, as we’ve found), click the link to reach out to us.
- Supporting and Caring for Our Gender Diverse Youth: Lessons from the Human Rights Campaign’s Youth Survey (This report gives a useful overview of the challenges that young gender-diverse people face, although UP notes that confusing language in the initial survey questions may have excluded some binary trans youth from the study, and the results may therefore not be representative of the entire intended population.)
- Resilience and Transgender Youth from the CDC
- When LGBT Older Adults Come Out by SAGE
- Caregiving in the LGBT Community by SAGE
- Book recommendations for LGBTQ+ youth from GLSEN (useful for stocking your bookshelves!)
- Allyship advice for people of faith from PFLAG
Resources on Pronouns:
In elementary school, we’re taught about the different parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Pronouns are another part of speech, and personal pronouns — words that are used in place of a person’s name — are what we’re discussing in this section.
- Personal pronouns are often a part of gender expression. They provide a way for others to affirm someone’s gender in casual speech. For example, many women use the pronoun “she”, and if you were to refer to one of these women as “he”, it might be taken as an insult. This is just as true for transgender people as it is for cisgender people (those who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth).
- People may ask you to use pronouns for them that you aren’t familiar with. Some common alternatives to he/him and she/her pronouns are they/them, it/its, and ze/hir. You can learn more about these pronoun sets by clicking the links. You’re also welcome to reach out to us at [email protected], and we can connect you with more information about other sets. However, it is always polite to ask someone how to use their pronouns if you aren’t sure.
- People may ask you to use more than one set of pronouns for them. For example: Hello, my name is Monty, and I use he/they pronouns. This means that you could say “He went to the store” or “They went to the store” — both would be correct. I like it when people mix both into conversations, but some people who use more than one pronoun prefer that people pick one and use it consistently in a conversation, or they may not have a strong preference at all. If you’re not sure, it’s always polite to ask.
- Although many trans and nonbinary people change their pronouns, not everyone who changes their pronouns identifies as transgender or nonbinary. Think of it like wearing the color pink — pink is associated with women and femininity, but wearing pink doesn’t necessarily make you a woman. Anyone can use whatever pronouns make them happy — and that includes you.
- Even if it seems challenging at first, no matter your age and background, you can learn to use people’s pronouns correctly. Try this online practice tool or reach out to [email protected] for more help. When practicing, we recommend picturing the person in your mind or looking at a photo of them. This helps strengthen the association between the person’s appearance and their pronouns.
- If you make a mistake and catch it yourself, quickly apologize and move on with the correct language. Mistakes are a natural part of learning, and the most important thing is change your speech going forwards.
- If you make a mistake and someone else points it out to you, thank the person, quickly apologize to the person you used the wrong pronouns for, and move on with the correct language. A correction like this should be taken as a compliment, because it shows that the person trusts you, respects you, and knows that you want to use the right language.
- A great way to show solidarity is to share your own pronouns. You can do this when you meet someone, in your email signature, or on a business card. Normalizing these practices as an ally helps keep LGBTQ+ people safe, as it breaks down the assumption that all people who share their pronouns are LGBTQ+.
Allyship in Healthcare
Studies show that LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately likely to have negative experiences with healthcare providers. These statistics can impact the willingness of LGBTQ+ people to seek out medical care when they need it. We at UP know this well, as many of our interactions with community members center around finding them safe places to receive the care they need. It’s difficult to express the harm that has been done to LGBTQ+ communities through the medical establishment, but this harm does not need to continue. As a healthcare provider, there are many ways you can make your workplace safer and more comfortable for LGBTQ+ people. Take a moment to consider the following points:
UP’s Recommendations for Healthcare Providers:
General Healthcare Resources:
The resources below without a listed source are all from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, a part of the Division of Education and Training at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health. We highly recommend browsing their website for additional resources.
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Does my workplace allow for sex markers other than M and F? Many people are born intersex, neither strictly male nor strictly female, and intersex traits may be important for you to know about in some medical contexts. In addition, 22 states now allow residents to legally change their gender marker to an X. It’s vital that your forms and computer systems allow people to reflect their legal status. You can also learn more about how to create and use inclusive medical intake forms in the resources below.
- Does my workplace encourage the sharing of pronouns? While sharing pronouns should never be mandatory, encouraging both staff and patients to share their pronouns creates a safer and more respectful environment. When staff wear pronoun pins or have their pronouns written on their nametag, it’s a visual signal to LGBTQ+ people that this is a space that wants to support them. Likewise, giving patients an opportunity to share their pronouns, either on forms or in conversation, opens the door for more respectful treatment. Remember that, although you can guess, you can’t know someone’s pronouns for sure unless you ask them. After pronouns are given, they must be recorded in a place that is clearly visible to any staff members who interact with or discuss the patient. (You can see more resources related to pronouns in the section titled How to Be an Ally.)
- Does my workplace allow patients to use a preferred name? Legal name changes can be a time-consuming and expensive process, but patients often need to share a legal name for insurance reasons. This means that the names you have in your system may not always reflect the names that people use in their day-to-day lives; indeed, their legal names may cause some patients great discomfort to hear. For this reason, it’s important to ask patients what name they go by, and also to record this information so that it is immediately visible to all staff interacting with the patient. After this name is given, the patient should never be referred to by their legal name, except on paperwork that requires it, or with caretakers if the patient is closeted.
- Does my workplace have gender-neutral restrooms? Offering gender-neutral facilities is a key way to support people who may not feel comfortable using gendered restrooms, and it’s often an easy change to make. According to Illinois law, single-occupancy restrooms must be treated as gender-neutral. If you have questions about how to adapt the facilities in your workplace, you’re welcome to reach out to [email protected].
- Does my workplace have up-to-date LGBTQ+ inclusivity training? Many people feel intimidated by the language used in the LGBTQ+ community or aren’t sure how they can support LGBTQ+ people in practice. The best way to overcome these challenges is through education. Consider reaching out to Uniting Pride to arrange a training. This is not only important for people providing healthcare — it’s important for anyone who interacts with patients, from receptionists to assistants to janitorial staff to administrators. No amount of affirming language and behavior from one direct provider can offset the potential harm of non-affirming experiences in every other part of a healthcare visit. It's important for all workers at your facility to be trained.
UP’s Recommendations for Healthcare Providers:
- Do not assume that your patients are cisgender and heterosexual. Most of the time, you won’t know that someone is LGBTQ+ by looking at them. Ability, race, ethnicity, and religion also do not affect a person’s odds of being LGBTQ+. When medically necessary, it’s always good practice to ask about your patient’s identities, and in general, it’s important that your language reflects the possibilities opened up by LGBTQ+ experiences. A married woman will not always have a husband, a man will not always have grown up as a boy, and the categories of “man” and “woman” do not include all people.
- Keep in mind that a person’s gender and sexual/romantic orientations can evolve at any age. The idea that gender and sexuality are established in childhood and immutable after a given age is false.
- At the same time, if a patient is confident in their gender and/or sexuality, it’s important to be respectful of that. Do not assume that, just because an identity is unfamiliar to you, it will be a phase.
General Healthcare Resources:
The resources below without a listed source are all from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, a part of the Division of Education and Training at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health. We highly recommend browsing their website for additional resources.
- Intake Form Guidance for Providers from Queering Medicine
- LGBTQ+ Glossary for Healthcare Providers from NurseJournal
- Affirmative Services for Transgender and Gender-Diverse People
- Transgender and Intersex Solidarity Kit by National Center for Transgender Equality
- Ten Strategies for Creating Inclusive Health Care Environments for LGBTQIA+ People
- Understanding the Health Needs of LGBT People
- Providing Inclusive Services and Care for LGBT People: A Guide for Health Care Staff
- Guidelines and Tips For Collecting Patient Data on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Recruiting, Training, and Retaining LGBTQ-Proficient Clinical Providers
- Affirming Organizational and Human Resource Policies for an LGBTQIA+ Workforce
- Focus on Forms and Policy: Creating an Inclusive Environment for LGBT Patients
- Poster (“Talk to your provider about being LGBTQ”)
- Suicide Risk and Prevention for LGBTQ People
- Promoting Health Care Access to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Farmworkers
- Affirming Primary Care for Intersex People
- Health Care Considerations for Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ Indigenous Communities
- Addressing Opioid Use Disorder among LGBTQ Populations
- Eating Disorders in LGBTQ+ Populations by the Center for Excellence
- Black LGBTQ+ Mental Health by the Center for Excellence
- Building Patient-Centered Medical Homes for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Patients and Families
- National LGBT Cancer Network
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Optimizing gender-affirming medical care through anatomical inventories, clinical decision support, and population health management in electronic health record systems by Chris Grasso, Hilary Goldhammer, Julie Thompson, and Alex S Keuroghlian
- Transgender voice and communication - vocal health and considerations by Sarah Schneider, MS, SLP-CC; and Mark Courey, MD
Providing Healthcare for LGBTQ+ Youth
Guides for Serving LGBTQ+ Youth:
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Gender-affirming Pediatric Care Toolkit by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
- Supporting & Caring for Transgender Children by Human Rights Campaign, the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians, and the American Academy of Pediatrics
- Engaging the Families of Transgender and Gender Diverse Children by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
- Health Disparities Among LGBTQ Youth from the CDC
- Neurodiversity & Gender-Diverse Youth by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
- PEP and Young People by Advocates for Youth
- Addressing Eating Disorders, Body Dissatisfaction, and Obesity Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Association of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy With Depression, Thoughts of Suicide, and Attempted Suicide Among Transgender and Nonbinary Youth by Amy E. Green, Ph.D.; Jonah P. DeChants, Ph.D.; Myeshia N. Price, Ph.D.; and Carrie K. Davis, M.S.W.
- Perspectives of LGBTQ Youth and Pediatricians in the Primary Care Setting: A Systematic Review by Molly Stern
- Caring for LGBTQ+ Youth in Affirming and Inclusive Environments by Scott E. Hadland, MD, MPH; Baligh R. Yehia, MD, MPP, MSc; and Harvey J. Makadon, MD
Providing Healthcare for LGBTQ+ Adults
Guides for Serving LGBTQ+ Adults:
The resources below without a listed source are all from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, a part of the Division of Education and Training at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health. We highly recommend browsing their website for additional resources.
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
The resources below without a listed source are all from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, a part of the Division of Education and Training at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health. We highly recommend browsing their website for additional resources.
- Guidelines for Gender-Affirming Primary Care with Trans and Non-Binary Patients by Sherbourne Health and Rainbow Health Ontario
- Pathways to Parenthood for LGBT People
- Recognizing and Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Relationships of LGBTQ People
- Quick Guide for Supporting the Behavioral Health of Sexual Minority Men
- Supporting the Health of Sexual Minority Women
- Caring for Transgender People with Severe Mental Illness
- Providing Trauma-Informed Care at Health Centers for HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men
- PrEP: Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV
- Promoting Cervical Cancer Screening Among Lesbians and Bisexual Women by the Fenway Institute
- Things to Consider When Your LGBTQ+ Clients Plan to Attend Family Gatherings by the Center for Excellence
- National LGBT Cancer Network
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People by the American Psychological Association
- Cervical Cancer Screening for Patients on the Female-to-Male Spectrum: a Narrative Review and Guide for Clinicians by Jennifer Potter, MD; Sarah M. Peitzmeier, MSPH; Ida Bernstein, BA; Sari L. Reisner, ScD, MA; Natalie M. Alizaga, MPH, MPhil; Madina Agénor, ScD, MPH; and Dana J. Pardee, BS
Providing Healthcare for Older LGBTQ+ Adults
The language that the LGBTQ+ community uses has been evolving rapidly over the last century. For this reason, it’s particularly important when working with older LGBTQ+ adults to be conscious and respectful of labels. It is always polite to ask someone their definition of a label that they claim, and this clarification may help you understand a patient’s past and present as it relates to their health. If a patient asks you to use a label that you’ve heard can be considered offensive (such as homosexual, transvestite, or transsexual) you should use that label to describe them. It is not appropriate to apply a more “modern” label to someone who does not claim it.
Guide for Serving Older LGBTQ+ Adults:
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
Guide for Serving Older LGBTQ+ Adults:
- Inclusive Services for LGBT Older Adults by the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging
- Sexual Health and Older LGBTQIA+ Adults by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
Key Studies and Academic Publications:
- Social, Economic, and Health Disparities Among LGBT Older Adults by Charles A. Emlet, Ph.D., M.S.W.
- Health Disparities Experienced among Older Sexual Minorities from CMS
This resource collection is a living document. If you find that any of these resources are outdated, or if you know of an additional resource that may benefit this collection, please reach out to [email protected].