2018 Articles

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Asexual, Intersex et al. (LGBTQAI+) Health Access Disparities in Female-Identified Clients

Hand, Jennifer

To address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, intersex et al. (LGBTQAI+) health policy, we must consider the historical context of the population in the United States. Within the last twenty years, the legal system codified basic safety and fundamental rights for LGBTQAI+ citizens. The legal system makes change slower than most other systems in order to preserve the rule of law from the tidal waves of popular opinion, and law often follows and codifies established policy. In the United States, there is great discrepancy in social attitudes towards this community that the creation of anti-discrimination laws beget new policies across all areas of social systems (Harrison & Michelson, 2017). Consequently, new anti-discrimination laws prescribe the conscientious and meticulous undoing of systemic bias in all of our social services, from housing to health care.