Abstract
Purpose
Pride festivals celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community.
This study aimed to describe adolescent Pride festival attendees, determine rates
of accessing health care via their primary care physician (PCP), and assess if providers
are discussing sex and offering screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
to these adolescents.
Methods
Adolescents, aged 13–17 years, attending the 2017 Minnesota Pride Festival were invited
to complete an 18-question survey regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, access
to a physician the preceding year, and whether sexual activity was discussed and/or
STI screening provided at these encounters.
Results
A total of 490 surveys were evaluated. Sixty-nine percent of respondents identified
as having nonheterosexual orientation. Rural participants were significantly more
likely to identify as LGBT than urban or suburban participants. The majority (90%)
of adolescents had been seen in the past year by a physician. Of these, 68% had been
asked a sexual history, and 29% were offered STI testing. Older adolescents were more
likely to be asked about sex and offered STI testing by a physician. Identifying as
LGBT was not associated with rate of sexual history taken or STI screening offered
but was associated with perceived need for STI testing.
Conclusions
LGBT youth attending Minnesota Pride are accessing a PCP with the same regularity
as cisgender, heterosexual peers but are infrequently offered STI testing, despite
knowledge of increased STI rates in this population. Taking a sexual history and screening
for STIs is something all physicians can do and represents an important first step
in any STI reduction initiative.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 23, 2020
Accepted:
November 7,
2019
Received:
August 23,
2019
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.
Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing.
Current address for Rachel Cafferty is Children’s Hospital Colorado, 13123E 16th Ave, B251, Aurora, Colorado.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
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Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Commemorating Pride: Reflecting on Progress and Continuing to Advocate for Gender Diverse and Sexual Minority YouthJournal of Adolescent HealthVol. 66Issue 6
- PreviewLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) Pride Month is marked with parades, demonstrations, workshops, and other events to recognize the local and global impact of LGBTQ individuals. This month also reminds us to honor those within the LGBTQ community who we have lost and reflect on our past and present struggles for human rights. Our history is rich in examples of how the LGBTQ community has fought for these rights: Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Francisco, Stonewall Riots in New York, demonstrations by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power to prompt governmental response for the AIDS epidemic, and the fight for same-sex marriage.
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