Sexual Distress and Function in Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Finnish Population-Based Study

Sexual and gender minorities consistently report worse physical and mental health compared to the majority population. Differences in sexual health have been studied less, especially among smaller minority subgroups such as asexual and non-binary people. We explored sexual function and distress in a Finnish population-based survey from 2019 (N = 8,589), comparing sexual and gender minorities with one another and with the heterosexual and cisgender population. Sexual distress was highest among bisexual men and women and lowest among asexual women, emerging identity men, and heterosexual men. Sexual desire was highest among bisexual women and gay men, and lowest among asexual men and women. Lesbian women had the highest sexual arousal and satisfaction, and the lowest rates of pain and orgasm difficulties of all women. Gay, asexual, and emerging identity men experienced less early ejaculation than heterosexual men. Sexual distress did not differ significantly between cisgender and gender minority people even though trans men and trans women had the highest mean distress. We found no indications that queer, pansexual, demisexual, non-binary, or asexual people suffer from more problems with sexual distress and function than the majority population. Our findings highlight the heterogeneity regarding sexual health in the LGBTQ+ population.