College Major, Gender and Heterosexism Reconsidered Under More Controlled Conditions

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that under controlled conditions respondent's gender and college major are related to heterosexism, four groups (n = 40 each)-male psychology majors, female psychology majors, male non-psychology majors, and female non-psychology majors-were formed from an initial sample of convenience (N = 1,947) of urban university students. Respondents were matched for age, race, college level, closeness of relationships to lesbian and gay men, religious affiliation, and religious attendance. Each student was requested to complete the Herek Attitude Scale towards Lesbians and Gay Men and these scores were subjected to a three factor (2x2x2) mixed analysis of variance. The three factors were respondent's gender, respondent's college major, and target's gender with repeated measures on target's gender. A significant respondent's gender by target's gender F(1/156) = 50.59, p < .001 interaction was observed. Male respondent's attitude toward gay males was significantly more negative than that of the other groups which did not differ significantly from one another. Significant main effects due to respondent's gender F(1/156) = 11.9, p < .001 and target's gender F(1/156) = 43.1, p < .001 were also observed. No significant college major effect F(1/156) = 1.60, p >.05 or interaction was found.

“Completely out-at-sea” with “two-gender medicine”: A qualitative analysis of physician-side barriers to providing healthcare for transgender patients

“…First, physicians may have difficulty in identifying colleagues with sufficient expertise to address the clinical problem, or they may worry about the sensitivity of colleagues when referring a trans patient for specialist care. The patient-side literature on trans healthcare barriers reflects a similar concern over limited access to knowledgeable, sensitive clinicians [1,6-8]. Second, relying too heavily on specialised services favours the notion that trans patients comprise an exceptional subgroup, rather than a primary care population with a set of care needs that are not limited solely to medical transitioning.…”

“…However, a cohesive professional network of physicians providing trans healthcare does not yet exist in Ontario. Such a network may reduce barriers related to the referral process by making health services for trans patients less dispersed and increasingly available at one-stop clinic locations, a concept that has been shown to appeal to the trans community [1,5]. …”

“…The social marginalisation of trans people is the focus of a growing body of scholarly work that draws attention to discrimination in employment, education, income, and housing [1-3]. Research shows that transphobia—the experience of discrimination based on having a gender identity or expression that varies from the sex assigned at birth—also constitutes an access barrier to medical care, both in general primary care [4-6], and in specialised areas such as mental health [7], substance abuse treatment [8], and HIV [9,10].…”

“…Barriers to access are multifactorial, and although contributing issues include frank discrimination such as verbal abuse, other more subtle processes create environments that are ill adapted to the needs of trans patients. Lack of knowledgeable healthcare providers and medical information regarding trans healthcare are cited as restrictions for trans patients seeking medical attention [1,9,11,12] These deficits are mirrored at the institutional level, where policies to accommodate trans patients are absent, or the very need for these policies goes unrecognised. Examples include the inability to schedule a hysterectomy for a trans male, or the refusal to accommodate in-patient placement consistent with a patient’s expressed gender at an institution with separate male and female wards.…”

“…Erasure in healthcare settings may be propagated by the lack of organised services addressing trans patients’ needs. Even medical services directed at broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations may fail to properly accommodate trans patients [1,5,9,13]. This contributes to an emerging debate regarding the optimal organisation of trans medical care, particularly among primary care services.…”