Sexual healthcare experiences of nonbinary young adults

Abstract

Nonbinary young adults (who do not identify with a binary male or female identity and may hold diverse gender identities, including genderqueer, nonbinary and agender) may have unique and unmet sexual healthcare needs compared to binary transgender and cisgender people. However, there is limited knowledge about the sexual health and healthcare needs of nonbinary young adults. We conducted 19 semi-structured, in-depth interviews between August and November 2018 with nonbinary people aged 18–30 years in New England. Interview topics included experiences accessing sexual healthcare and engaging in sexual activity. Interviews were transcribed and transcripts were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified. First, participants described barriers to accessing high-quality sexual healthcare at both the interpersonal and institutional level. Second, participants employed strategies to meet their sexual healthcare needs despite encountering barriers. Third, participants articulated the ways nonbinary gender identities affect sexual relationships, with implications for sexual health. These findings underscore the need for research and advocacy – in collaboration with nonbinary persons themselves – to develop best practices to meet the sexual healthcare needs and advance the sexual health of nonbinary young people.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ
• nonbinary
• gender identity
• sexual health
• health services

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Aerosmith Endowment Fund for Prevention and Treatment of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Open Gate Foundation for LGBTQ+ Research Grant.