Author: Grayson Schultz

The U.S. Trans Survey is now open! [closed]

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

The following is from an email sent out by the U.S. Trans Survey Team @ National Center for Transgender Equality yesterday (10-19):

take the us trans survey

We’re proud to announce that the U.S. Trans Survey is now open and ready for you to take! Whether you pledged to take the survey or not, you can take the survey today!!

As trans people, we know that we’ve accomplished incredible things together as a community. Join thousands of other people folks around the country in sharing your experience to create a clear picture of what it’s like to be trans in the United States.

If you are trans and plan to take the survey, here’s what you need to know:

  • The survey is open to people of all trans identities (binary and nonbinary), ages 16 and older, living in the United States and U.S. territories, regardless of citizenship status.
  • If you pledged to take the survey, you are not obligated to take the survey. Participation is voluntary. When you click on the link to start the survey, you will be asked to consent to take the survey.
  • The U.S. Trans Survey is an anonymous survey. Your response will be kept confidential and will not be used to identify you.
  • The time required to take the survey may vary, but make sure to set aside at least 60 minutes to take the survey.
  • The survey will be available in both English and Spanish.
  • Please let your trans friends and siblings know about the survey too!

The U.S. Trans Survey is being conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality in partnership with the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, TransLatin@ Coalition, and National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance.

If you have any questions, please reach out at ustranssurvey@transequality.org.

Again, thank you so much for being part of this important survey. We’re excited to see the results!

Click here to take the survey now!

With love and solidarity,

The U.S. Trans Survey Team

Survey About How Social Media Increases Anti-Trans Ideals

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

the role of social media in facilitating anti-gender mobilizing and their impact on tgdi movements

The following is from the webpage on this survey:

We want to explore the impact of global anti-gender movements on trans, gender diverse (TGD) and wider LGBTQI mobilizing and rights and the role of social media in facilitating anti-gender mobilizing and discourses.

The anti-gender movement is an international movement which opposes what it refers to as gender ideology, gender theory, or genderism (Kováts, Eszter, 2016). Today, social media plays a huge role in disinformation currencies that perpetuate anti-gender mobilizing. If you’re a trans or gender diverse person, is very likely that you’ve encountered anti-gender movements. We’re creating a survey to collect data that can help us counteract these movements, and we need your help! This survey was created for people who are part of organizations or unregistered collectives working on trans, gender diverse or wider LGBQ communities and issues.

It takes about 20-30 minutes to fill out this questionnaire. You are welcome to send us your complaints or other types of feedback to research@gate.ngo. Considering the safety issues in many contexts relating to reporting on anti-gender opposition and/or being an activist or a community member, you will have the opportunity to stay anonymous. This is also available in Russian and Spanish.

If you’re interested in participating, click here.

The 2022 Gender Census is open! [closed]

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

The 2022 Gender Census is open!

This survey is open to anyone, in any country, of any age, whose experience of their gender doesn’t fit tidily into the strict binary of female/male. It seeks broad statistical data about the language we use to refer to ourselves in English, e.g. pronouns, identity words, and titles. The results will be made public for use in activism, self-advocacy, business, and academia.

Helpful information:

  • It is international and open to anyone, anywhere.
  • The survey aims to collect information about the language we use to refer to ourselves.
  • Most of the survey asks about three things: identity words, pronouns and titles.
  • There is a feedback box at the end.
  • Most people find that it takes 5 minutes or less.
  • You can read the FAQs here.

This is a volunteer-run, crowdfunded project. They don’t pay for any advertising at all, and the >44,000 responses last year were gathered entirely by word-of-mouth.

If you’re into that kind of thing, click here to take part: survey.gendercensus.com

Rites of Passage Study

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

Sharing the following opportunity as listed on my friend ink’s substack:

Rites of passage research is incredibly important to me in my journey of recovery and becoming. Through initiating to adulthood in community, to learning to truly be alone, rites of passage work has fostered an unwavering sense of knowingness and purpose into my life that I hope all young people get the privilege to experience.

We have all grown up in vastly different ways. Qualitatively, there is no one growing up story alike another.

With this, we want to know more about how you grew up.

We are building an understanding of how our generation of young people have come into age as we seek to understand its impacts on health, toward future programs.

This is an incentivized opportunity ($20 bookstore giftcard) to contribute to the advancement of rites research, as we move toward implementing ways of knowing and being that support growing up.

These questions are in-depth and may be uncomfortable. Only engage if you feel you have the time to donate your story to the cause. Otherwise, please feel free to disregard or send feedback.

Find everything you need to know here, and thank you for supporting the research.

New research findings from The PRIDE Study

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

The Pride Study is the first national longitudinal (aka long-term) study of the LGBTQ+ community. To join as a participant, you need to be living in the US (or US territories), be 18+ years old, and be able to read and understand English. You also need to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community (duh!). You can learn more here.

 

The journal Neurology has also published the latest findings from The PRIDE Study. This study is important because it is the first to look specifically at LGBTQ+ people’s experiences with headaches and the connections with trauma. This study illustrates how common headaches and migraines are for LGBTQ+ people.

What Did We Learn?

A total of 3,325 participants took the survey; 2,142 (64%) reported experiencing headaches and 1,126 (34%) reported experiencing migraines. On average, most people with migraines reported the strength was moderate or severe and frequent or strong enough to experience migraine-related disability, meaning the migraines affected their ability to participate in work, school, or home life. If they had a history of trauma and discrimination, they also were more likely to have migraines frequent or strong enough to experience migraine-related disability. However, for participants who had a history of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder, those who also had a history of trauma and discrimination were not more likely to experience migraine-related disability compared to those without a history of trauma and discrimination. This suggests that mental health conditions play an important role in experiencing migraine-related disability. Most of the people with migraines had access to a clinic or doctor’s office for healthcare (88%). About 42% of people with migraines wanted to see a specialist. However, 37% of this group had difficulty seeing a specialist, with the most common reason being that their insurance did not approve it. Additional reasons include their primary care doctor did not place the referral, the specialist was not accepting new patients, there were no specialists in their town or city, or the specialist refused to see them.

What Does This Mean for Our Communities?

This study showed that headaches and migraines are common for LGBTQ+ people, similar to the general public. We learned that many LGBTQ+ people with migraines do not have access to a specialist to help provide treatment. This can mean that headaches are not treated as well as they could be, which is important for primary care doctors to be aware of. LGBTQ+ people should also consider how their experiences with trauma, discrimination, and/or mental health conditions may have a connection with their experiences with migraines.

What’s Next?

Further education is needed for healthcare providers and specialists about the experiences of LGBTQ+ people with headaches. Studies about migraines or their treatment should collect information about sexual orientation and gender identity from participants to further understand how LGBTQ+ people are affected. Further research is needed to look at the barriers that LGBTQ+ people face when it comes to accessing healthcare, including looking at other aspects of their identity, such as race, ethnicity, or income level. The connection between depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder with migraines should also be looked at further, as treatments for these mental health conditions may also help reduce the effects of migraines.

Further Reading

Rosendale N, Guterman EL, Obedin-Maliver J, Flentje A, Capriotti MR, Lubensky ME, Lunn MR. Migraine, migraine disability, trauma, and discrimination in sexual and gender minority individuals. Neurology Jul 2022, 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200941. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200941.

We combined data from The PRIDE Study’s 2018 Annual Questionnaire and state healthcare policy protections from the Movement Advancement Project to understand whether state policies are related to decisions to avoiding healthcare among transgender and non-binary people.

This is the first study to look at the role of healthcare anti-discrimination policies in a state and whether the presence of those policies is related to the choice to avoid seeking healthcare among transgender and non-binary people.

What Did We Learn?

We found that experiencing poor treatment in healthcare related to one’s gender identity or expression was related to avoiding healthcare services in the past year. We found that the presence of state healthcare anti-discrimination policies did not change the relationship between poor treatment in healthcare and someone avoiding healthcare services in the past year.

What Does This Mean for Our Communities?

Transgender and non-binary people who live in states with healthcare anti-discrimination policies still avoid seeking healthcare. This is concerning because it increases the risk of poor health because illnesses may go untreated and health concerns may go un-diagnosed.

What’s Next?

We need to look at how healthcare anti-discrimination policies are put in place and how individuals and healthcare organizations are held accountable when poor experiences are reported. There is also an opportunity to look at ways to communicate with transgender and non-binary communities about what the policies in their state are and what their options are when poor treatment happens. We also need to look at how healthcare decisions are made by sub-communities within trans communities, such as trans people of color and trans people who may be undocumented.

Further Reading

Clark, K.D., Luong, S., Lunn, M.R., Flowers, E., Bahalkeh, E., Lubensky, M.E., et al. Healthcare Mistreatment, State-Level Policy Protections, and Healthcare Avoidance Among Gender Minority People. Sex Res Social Policy. 2022. Epub 2022, July 15. doi:10.1007/s13178-022-00748-1

Muscle dysmorphia means that someone is worried about not being muscular enough. Gender-expansive people do not identify as being exclusively a man or exclusively a woman. We asked gender-expansive people in The PRIDE Study to fill out a widely used survey in health research about this issue.

This was the first study to use these survey questions with gender-expansive people.

What Did We Learn?

We found three categories of concerns that gender-expansive people have about muscles: 1) a desire to be bigger and more muscular, 2) a dissatisfaction with the way their body looks, and 3) problems with normal life functions (such as passing up social activities because of their workout schedule).

What Does This Mean for Our Communities?

This survey is appropriate for use with gender-expansive people to understand their concerns around muscles. These results can help providers and researchers understand the muscle-related problems that gender-expansive people are having and ask better questions to provide them with better care.

What’s Next?

We want to study concerns about muscles among transgender women.

Further Reading

Compte EJ, Cattle CJ, Lavender JM, Brown TA, Murray SB, Capriotti MR, Flentje A, Lubensky ME, Obedin-Maliver J, Lunn MR, Nagata JM. Psychometric evaluation of the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI) among gender-expansive people. J Eat Disord. 2022 July;10:95. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-022-00618-6

Abortion and Reproductive Justice

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

abortion and reproductive justice

In the wake of the SCOTUS decision to end Roe v Wade, I know many of us are feeling frustrated, lost, or deflated. Take your time to feel those feelings, but return to the movement toward universal rights when ready.

If you’re looking to learn more about talking about abortion, ensure that you do so inclusively:

  • Use language that includes trans men, transmasculine and nonbinary folks, and others outside the gender binary. One great example is this inclusive birthing language resource.
  • Ensure that you’re creating accessible resources by learning more about accessibility in general.
  • Do not engage in bigotry to prove your point. SCOTUS making this decision isn’t akin to ‘sharia law,’ and saying so is Islamaphobic.
  • Don’t say that we should ban erectile dysfunction medications, too. Removing bodily autonomy for one group will not bring it back for another. Plus, many disabled folks and trans folks rely on these medications to access intimacy.

You can learn more about discussing abortion inclusively via a recent Substack post of mine.

Reproductive Justice Resources

Participate in the International Kink Health Study

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

KINK HEALTH Adventurous people deserve exceptional care. kinkhealth.org TASHRA presents an international health study and invites YOU to learn if you are eligible. Go to kinkhealth.org Do you have recurring, long-standing fantasies that focus on kink, bondage, and fetish? Our goals: • The IKHS will document the prevalence of injuries and medical complications arising from kink activities • Examine the health status of kink-involved people; and document how healthcare is utilized by kink The involved people International • Investigate how connections to kink communities Kink Health affect people's health and well-being Study (IKHS) Contact us with other questions at KinkHealth2@protonmail.com *Complete a short survey to determine your eligibility for this study at kinkhealth.org

The International Kink Health Study is now LIVE!

The International Kink Health Study (IKHS) is a research project about the physical and mental health, childhood experience, sexuality and healthcare of those around the world with recurring fantasies and practices that involve kink/BDSM/leather and fetish.

An expansion of our 2016 research survey, this study plans to invite participants to become part of a group of kink interested people from around the world. We will ask them to complete yearly surveys over a number of years. We hope that they will help us understand more about what it means to be kinky, about their health and wellbeing, their kink lives and pleasure, their relationships and roles, their injuries and their experiences of healing.

We are researchers with deep roots in the kink community and who want to make sure that this information benefits the kink community. Won’t you think about joining with us on our upcoming adventure?

Want to learn more, see if you’re eligible, or take the survey?
Pop over to the study’s website today.

Pledge to Take the 2022 US Trans Survey

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

a graphic featuring black, brown, white, pink, and blue hands - pledge to take the us trans survey

The U.S. Trans Survey (USTS) is the largest survey of trans people in the United States. The USTS documents the lives and experiences of trans people in the U.S. and U.S. territories. The last time data was collected was back in 2015. That year, nearly 28,000 people took the survey!

The USTS is the main source of data about trans people for the media, educators, policymakers, and the general public, covering health, employment, income, the criminal justice system, etc.  USTS reports have been a vital resource, including the reports on the experiences of people of color and reports by state.

It is vital that we ensure that this survey includes data about historically and continually forcibly marginalized groups, including Black and Brown folks, those in rural areas, disabled folks, and more.

So, if you are ages 16+ and are transgender, nonbinary, etc., please consider pledging to take the survey when it’s out later this year.

Pledge here

Note: By submitting this pledge form, you’ll receive email updates from the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) about the survey. Pledging to take the survey does not obligate you to take the survey. Participation is voluntary. You will be asked to consent to take the survey later when the survey enrollment begins. 

Hypermobility and Sexual Function Study

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

hypermobility and sexual function study graphic

Sexual Functioning and its Impact in Relation to EDS

Researchers: Tom Virden, Ph.D. (he/him) & Brona Hagins, M.A. (she/her) at Midwestern University

In layman’s terms, this study is to assess how hypermobility/EDS may negatively impact gynecological health, sex, and relationships. Therefore, it is only open to those who were

  • assigned female at birth,
  • aged 18 years or older,
  • and who have a hypermobility disorder such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).

This research study is open to those who have been diagnosed with a hypermobility spectrum disorder (which includes Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). The purpose of this research study is to understand the gynecological impacts of hypermobility.

The questionnaire will assess gynecological concerns and their impact on individuals with hypermobility regarding avoidance, fear, relationships, sexual dysfunction, and quality of life. Quality of life will be assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life brief scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Sexual dysfunction will be assessed using the Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI).

Original questions are follow-up questions to the two included measures, such as sexual functioning’s impact on various relationships.

The study aims to assess the psychological and day-to-day impact of gynecological concerns in hypermobile individuals. Additionally, it will provide guidance as to the gynecologically-informed treatments utilized/recommended in the hypermobile population.

We’re inviting you to participate in a research study. This study consists of an online survey. You will be asked to complete a series of questions about your sexual health and gynecological functioning. This survey may be completed on any computer with internet access. You are free to skip any questions that you would prefer not to answer.

Participation is completely voluntary. If you agree to participate, you can always change your mind and withdraw. There are no negative consequences, whatever you decide.

  • If you have any questions about or do not understand something on this form, you should ask the research team for more information.
  • You can and should discuss your participation with anyone you choose, such as family or friends.
  • Do not agree to participate in this study unless the research team has answered your questions and you decide that you want to be part of this study.

Some questions may be very personal or upsetting. You can skip any questions you don’t want to answer or stop the survey entirely.

  • Online data being hacked or intercepted: This is a risk you experience any time you provide information online. We’re using a secure system to collect this data and are not collecting identifiable information, but we can’t completely eliminate this risk.
  • Breach of confidentiality: There is a chance your data could be seen by someone who shouldn’t have access to it. We’re minimizing this risk in the following ways:
    • Data is anonymous.
    • We’ll store all electronic data on REDCAP, a secure online survey server, or on a password-protected, encrypted computer when statistical analyses are conducted.

In the unlikely event that you suffer an injury or illness directly related to your participation in this research project, upon your request, Midwestern University will arrange for the provision of treatment for such injury or illness at the closest medical facility. Payment for such treatment will be your responsibility, although your commercial insurance carrier if any, may pay all or part of the medical expenses that you might incur. Midwestern University will not pay any monetary compensation for research related injury or illness or pay for treatment outside any MWU-affiliated Hospitals or Medical Centers. You are not waiving any of your legal rights by volunteering to participate in this study.

Although you will not benefit directly from participating in this study, you will make a major contribution to the information known about gynecologically related concerns impact in hypermobility. In future, others may benefit because doctors will learn about how hypermobility affects gynecological functioning.

You will not be compensated for participation.

This questionnaire should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

We will not collect any identifying information for the research.

Where will data be stored?
On the servers for the online survey software, REDCAP.

How long will it be kept?
For the duration of the research project (estimated < 1 year).

Who can see my data?

  • We (the researchers) will have access to de-identified (no names, birthdate, address, etc.) information. This is so we can analyze the data and conduct the study.
  • We may share our findings in publications or presentations. If we do, the results will be de-identified.

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Midwestern University Institutional Review Board (AZ #5070). If you have questions about this research project and the research subjects’ rights please contact the principal investigator, Tom B. Virden III, Ph.D., at (623) 572-3868 or email at tvirde@midwestern.edu.

If you have any questions regarding the rights of being a research subject, please call the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at 623-806-7670 or via email: AZORSP@midwestern.edu.

You can also contact Brona Hagins, MA, at bhagins67@midwestern.edu.

 

After taking this survey, I would suggest listing information on the first page in the last question about if you’re not currently experiencing sexual function issues but have in the past. There isn’t another spot to list that information later on.

 

To participate, click here.

Ableism, Willowbrook, and The Pandemic

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

Content notes: forced institution of disabled folks, multiple uses of the R slur, neglect, abuse (including sexual), death

ableism, willowbrook, and the pandemic

This week, I learned that Martin Luther King, Jr., dealt with depression beginning in childhood. This ties directly into one of my daily threads this week:

tweet from Grayson: Whoo, y'all, the ableism here. AND also the racism in focusing on calling this man out while letting the comments of the millions of white politicians and pundits who do this shit daily slip by quietly. #GiveUsThisDayOurDailyThread - Quote Tweet of César N. Chávez @CesarChavezAZ · Jan 23 Allowing severely mentally ill and drug addicted individuals to roam public places unsupervised is inhumane. In my district, this has become a problem. During the past months, I’ve been working with stakeholders to brainstorm several ideas. These ideas will be introduced soon.
link

As an aside, I have a meeting on Tuesday with Rep. Chávez to talk through how and why this was harmful. Instead of dunking on a queer formerly undocumented immigrant serving as an Arizona state representative, I offered to talk. So, please don’t use this tweet to throw hate his way – especially if you’re white.

Most people do not know the history of institutionalization, why it was so bad, or how hard the disability community had to fight to get it to end – and even now, institutions still exist. They believe that mental illness is something that you can see, something that is clear and can lead someone to violence.

The reality is, though, that people with mental health issues account for maybe 3-5% of violence:

only 3%–5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population.

I go on in that thread to talk about how the media fails us with shitty representation of mental illness, physical disability, and more. They make us out to be monsters, fueling the fire for ableism.

 

Willowbrook

One of the best ways to illustrate how institutions do not ever need to come back is by talking about Willowbrook State School in Staten Island. As we do, though, note that this situation is far from unique to that specific institution – other former institutions have even acknowledged that.

Continue reading “Ableism, Willowbrook, and The Pandemic” →