“I would have preferred more options”: accounting for non‐binary youth in health research

Abstract

As a research team focused on vulnerable youth, we increasingly need to find ways to acknowledge non-binary genders in health research. Youth have become more vocal about expanding notions of gender beyond traditional categories of boy/man and girl/woman. Integrating non-binary identities into established research processes is a complex undertaking in a culture that often assumes gender is a binary variable. In this article, we present the challenges at every stage of the research process and questions we have asked ourselves to consider non-binary genders in our work. As researchers, how do we interrogate the assumptions that have made non-binary lives invisible? What challenges arise when attempting to transform research practices to incorporate non-binary genders? Why is it crucial that researchers consider these questions at each step of the research process? We draw on our own research experiences to highlight points of tensions and possibilities for change. Improving access to inclusive health-care for non-binary people, and non-binary youth in particular, is part of creating a more equitable healthcare system. We argue that increased and improved access to inclusive health-care can be supported by research that acknowledges and includes people of all genders.

‘More than boy, girl, male, female’: exploring young people’s views on gender diversity within and beyond school contexts

“…Jazz Jennings). There is an expanding vocabulary of gender and increasingly multiple and visible ways to identify (or disidentify) with and 'do' gender that researchers are both exploring and having to take into account (Meyer and Carlson 2014;Robinson et al 2014;Westbrook and Saperstein 2015;Jones et al 2016;Frohard-Dourlent et al 2017. For discussions and definitions of gender diversity, see Hines and Sanger 2010).…”

Bullying Victimization Among LGBTQ Youth: Critical Issues and Future Directions

“…Further, they highlight variation within the TGD community that typically goes unmeasured or unidentified, due to a lack of survey questions with appropriate response options and a lack of power to examine differences. Researchers and clinicians must ensure that they are using up-to-date terminology for both sexual orientation and gender identity and providing response options that allow youth to identify themselves accurately [72,74,75]. …”

Gender queer: politics is killing us

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