As a LEAD Fellow, I have been working on a project with Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg that looks at preferences for parental involvement in digital health interventions among LGBTQ teens with eating disorders. I have also spent my first few weeks in St. Louis meeting with faculty across WUSTL and having fruitful conversations ranging from developing school-based interventions for LGBTQ young people to managing a media crisis as a researcher.
As I reflect on my last month in the program, I am reminded of the challenges that come with focusing my work on improving the health and well-being of LGBTQ communities, especially when in conservative political landscapes. A core memory of our time in Uganda is our visit to Parliament and the discourse around the new Anti-Homosexuality Act that had been signed into law just weeks prior to our arrival. The law demonizes LGBTQ people and would include sentencing two consenting adults to life imprisonment for same-sex behaviors. LGBTQ Ugandans are left to live in a constant state of fear for simply being who they are. Unfortunately, legislation that negatively impacts the lives of LGBTQ people is not unique to Uganda.
Missouri is now one of 20 states that have passed bills banning gender-affirming care for minors. Here the law applies not only to gender-affirming surgeries, but also puberty blockers and hormone treatment. It’s frustrating to know that despite research showing that gender-affirming care improves the mental health of transgender youth, policies are still created that will exacerbate mental health disparities among transgender young people. The medical faculty at WUSTL I spoke with were still uncertain of what patient care will look like once the law goes into effect in August, but it may involve people seeking care in neighboring states if they can afford it.
While my time in St. Louis is coming to an end and I don’t have all the answers for how to overcome these political challenges impacting LGBTQ health, I am grateful to now be connected with so many scholars who are passionate about moving this work forward. I am eager for the collaborations that are to come and working to offer Suubi (hope) to LGBTQ communities globally.