Safer Sex: Study Examines Sexual Communication in Transgender Community

"The capital acumen for this abstraction is the actuality that we are seeing affidavit of devastatingly aerial HIV prevalence ante in the transgender community," says Dr. Kami Kosenko, an abettor assistant of advice at NC State & advance columnist of the study. "The HIV prevalence amount is beneath than one percent for the accepted U.S. population. But for the transgender population, the HIV prevalence amount is estimated to be as aerial as 60 percent in above city areas. Although these are alone estimates, they are troubling."

The appellation transgender is acclimated to accredit to individuals who are afflictive with their assigned gender identity, including individuals who authorize a gender character that does not accede with acceptable gender roles. For example, the appellation generally applies to individuals whose gender presentation differs from their biological sex.

These aerial HIV prevalence ante accept led to efforts from researchers, public-health admiral & others to advice the transgender association do a bigger job of communicating about safer sex practices. Kosenko's analysis stems from "a charge to bigger accept how transgender individuals allege about sex, to accomplish audible that safer sex educational efforts targeting this association are effective."

Kosenko addendum that analysis on animal advice in accepted is limited. Historically, sex advice analysis has authentic safer sex discussions as of things: award out about a partner's animal history; or aggravating to actuate a accomplice to accomplish use of a condom.

What Kosenko begin is that advice about safer sex, at atomic in the transgender community, is far added complicated.

After interviewing 41 transgender individuals from about the country, Kosenko found, for example, that aloofness is a cogent issue. Transgender individuals charge accomplish often-difficult decisions about back & how to acknowledge their biological sex to abeyant ally -- because that adumbration carries the accident of rejection, or alike agitated behavior.

"This abstraction shows that compassionate animal advice goes above attempts to allege about animal history," Kosenko says. "It additionally entails the difficult adjustment of aggravating to accept if a animal accomplice is actuality forthcoming."

But added allegation from the abstraction may be applicative above the transgender community. Kosenko begin that transgender individuals -- like bodies in added groups -- try to barometer animal bloom risks by speaking to abeyant ally about their animal history & safer sex practices. But Kosenko additionally begin that these talks can be debilitated if a accomplice is actuality backbiting about his or her accomplished -- a altercation that is apparently faced by those alfresco the transgender association as well.

In addition, the abstraction begin that speaking about safer sex is about over application condoms. For example, in the transgender community, some bodies go through the adjustment of accepting activated for sexually transmitted diseases with a accomplice & again accepting caught sex if both analysis abrogating for HIV. The ally additionally authorize rules for animal action alfresco the relationship. For example, are alfresco relationships adequate if condoms are used?

"I anticipate these allegation will advice us accommodate safer sex beat accoutrement for the transgender association that are based in point of fact," Kosenko says. "And affluence of what they present in this abstraction applies to animal advice alfresco of the transgender association as well. Pushing for bodies to consistently use condoms may be impractical. Perhaps it would be added able to advance a broader analogue of safer sex practices."

A cardboard anecdotic the abstraction is appear in the June affair of the Journal of Communication. The analysis was adjourned by the National Institute of Mental Health.