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Need help understanding your rights as an LGBTQ+ person or someone living with HIV? Visit our virtual Help Desk.

The right to health care

LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV often face barriers to receiving the health care they need.

 

Barriers to health care manifest in different ways. But our community is particularly vulnerable to breaches of medical confidentiality, discriminatory exclusions in health coverage, and to violations of personal autonomy when it comes to issues like reproductive decisions, gender-affirming medical care, and more.

We work to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people and persons living with HIV when they seek health care. And just as important, we work to ensure that insurance companies, medical professionals, and health care facilities understand their own responsibility to treat patients fairly.

Cases on fairness in health care.

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Fast Facts

1 in 3

The number of transgender or nonbinary people who report encountering some kind of health care refusal by a doctor or other health care provider

1 in 2

The number of LGBTQ+ people of color who have faced discrimination in health care

29%

The percent of transgender youth (ages 13-17) who live in states that ban evidence-based gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Your rights

Explore our collection of resources to learn more about health care. Have a specific question that’s not answered below? Visit our virtual Help Desk.