Sexual Assault Risk and School Facility Restrictions in Gender Minority Youth.

Abstract

In the current issue of Pediatrics , Murchison et al1 have shown that transgender and gender nonbinary adolescents restricted from using school restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity had an increased risk of sexual assault. Data were derived from an anonymous online survey of >3000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adolescents, with respondents being from throughout the United States. The increased risk of sexual assault was observed in transgender boys, nonbinary adolescents designated female at birth, and transgender girls.1 The findings of this study make a compelling case for what we as gender specialist providers witness every day in our work: failure to support transgender and gender-expansive youth in being able to fully live in their affirmed gender puts them at physical as well as psychological risk.2 Yet, with respect to school restrooms … Address correspondence to Stephen M. Rosenthal, MD, Global Health and Clinical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Mission Hall, 550 16th St, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94143. E-mail: stephen.rosenthal{at}ucsf.edu