Start Collecting COVID-19 Data Inclusive of Trans and Gender Expansive Folks Now!
In a collaboration with the Harvard SOGIE Health Equity Research Collaborative, today the Harvard GenderSci Lab has a new post up on the Health Affairs blog about gaps in COVID-19 public health data collection on trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive people.
The collaboration was sparked by the GenderSci Lab’s ongoing “US Gender/Sex COVID-19 Data Tracker” project, which reveals that U.S. states generally utilize binary sex categories (male/female) and do not comprehensively or uniformly collect data specifically on trans, non-binary, and other gender-expansive people. (For more on state-specific reporting practices for those who don’t fit in the binary, see our post “The ‘Unknown’ Side of State COVID-19 Gender/Sex Reporting,” published last month.)
As a result of a focus only on binary male-female sex categories, health disparities experienced by trans and nonbinary people are under-analyzed by researchers, and there is very minimal work about the impacts of COVID-19 specifically in these communities. Lots of evidence, however, predicts that the pandemic has amplified existing inequalities experienced by trans and gender-expansive people.
We urgently call for more inclusive data reporting and analysis. This is crucial for developing public policy that mitigates the impact of COVID-19 on trans and gender expansive people. It is also important for developing a more complete understanding of the contours of sex/gender as a variable in COVID-19 health outcomes for all people.
Read the full article here. Some key takeaway points:
We call on public health agencies to adopt methods of data collection on gender/sex that are inclusive of trans, non-binary, and other gender-expansive people.
Combining qualitative with quantitative analysis is necessary to assess the impact of COVID-19 on trans and gender-expansive people and to identify what forms of data collection are still needed.
Only three states (Oregon, Massachussetts, Rhode Island) include categories for gender/sex beyond the male/female binary.
We recommend that researchers and public health agencies adopt categories for sex/gender already articulated by trans, non-binary and gender-expansive communities.
See also:
Our guide for communicating responsibly about gender/sex and COVID-19