Transgender Health: Findings from Two Needs Assessment Studies in Philadelphia

HIV/AIDS, suicide, violence, and barriers to health care access among transgender people were explored using two needs assessment surveys conducted in Philadelphia in 1997. A total of 182 people responded to a face-to-face interview or self-administered mail survey: 113 male-to-female individuals and 69 female-to-male individuals. About three-fifths of respondents had engaged in unprotected sexual activity during the past 12 months. The risk for HIV infection from unprotected sex was significantly higher among respondents of color than among white respondents. About one-third (30.1 percent) of respondents had attempted suicide. More than half of respondents had been forced to have sex, 56.3 percent had experienced violence in their homes, and 51.3 percent had been physically abused. Twenty-six percent of respondents had been denied medical care because they were transgender. These findings suggest that prevention services that specifically address HIV/AIDS, suicide, and violence among transgender people are urgently needed.