Abstract
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people have become more visible and risen in the American public’s consciousness in recent years. Despite this visibility and some political gains such as piecemeal advances in legal gender recognition and nondiscrimination protection, TGNC people continue to experience extensive health and social disparities. Notably, these disparities include a higher human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden, poorer mental health outcomes, and barriers to health care. Public health professionals in the United States have called for TGNC health inequities to be addressed and health communication is an important component of this effort. This article begins with an overview of the research evidence about the extent of TGNC disparities and contextualizes them socio-politically. Then, we review a sample of existing health communication campaigns relating to breast, cervical, and testicular cancers through a TGNC lens. Finally, we make a case for considering TGNC people in the development and delivery of health communication campaigns. Recommendations are made for how to do this effectively. Suggested actions include reviewing existing materials for gender inclusivity, engaging communities to determine accurate and relevant messaging, collecting population-level demographic data on gender identity, and training employees using a health equity framework.
Highlights
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people1, those whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, have become more visible and risen in the public consciousness in recent years
Cancer campaign case studies As we examined cancer campaign case studies, we hypothesized that health communication campaigns on sex-specific conditions may exclude TGNC people if they have been designed for a gender-segmented cisgender2 audience
The importance of considering TGNC people in health communication campaigns For nearly two decades, the American Public Health Association has acknowledged that more research and better access to adequate health care is needed to reduce health disparities faced by the transgender community; our review found that very few public health messages outside of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and anti-violence campaigns directly target TGNC people
Summary
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people1, those whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, have become more visible and risen in the public consciousness in recent years. We briefly review a sample of existing English language health communication campaigns relating to sex-specific cancers— breast, cervical, and testicular cancers—from a TGNC lens, to help identify gaps and opportunities for creating culturally competent health materials. Imagery in the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation’s “Know Your Nuts” campaign to encourage screening uses gendered messaging to target general male audiences.
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