Abstract

Transgender people often struggle to attend appointments with healthcare professionals due to fear of discrimination regarding their gender identity. This is apparent in the research conducted internationally. However, this research groups all subpopulations of the transgender community together as one. Little research has been conducted into the healthcare experiences solely with transgender men from the UK. Specifically, when accessing healthcare that is not directly related to their transition, of which statistics have shown the high occurrence rates of discrimination. To understand the barriers transgender men face when accessing healthcare, qualitative phenomenological research was undertaken with 10 participants who self-identified as transgender men and had experience accessing healthcare that was not related to their transition directly. In-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes were established: Negative experiences; Normalisation, Social Norms and aspects of discrimination; and Healthcare interaction, community and relationships. This article will focus on the theme: Normalisation, Social Norms and aspects of discrimination, due to the limited space and this being the most novel and richest of the three themes.

Keywords

Transgender, FTM, Trans men, Transphobia, AFAB, Experiences, Healthcare, Health, Normalisation, Discrimination, Expectation, Anxiety, Disparities

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