Publications

Little research investigates what resources are useful in helping patients to feel prepared to undergo phalloplasty or metoidioplasty, and how assessments and resources can promote patient autonomy in the process. This study sought to fill this gap by utilizing data from PROGRESS (Patient-Reported Outcomes of Genital Reconstruction and Experiences of Surgical Satisfaction), a cross-sectional, community-based survey of trans and nonbinary adults from the United States of America and Canada who had undergone one or more of these surgeries. Results revealed most participants felt prepared to undergo surgery, though the majority of our sample did not find referral letter assessments to be helpful. Peer support such as online resources/blogs were rated as highly useful, along with surgical consults.

Pandemic restrictions reshaped both chemsex and the services meant to support it. Using interpretive description, researchers interviewed eight key informants with chemsex expertise and 13 gay and bisexual men (GBM) with lived experience in Quebec between July 2020 and January 2021. Three themes emerged. Participants described the public health response as heteronormative and moralizing, deepening shame, isolation, and drug-related risk by obstructing harm reduction. They also described how already scarce chemsex-specialized services worsened, with the shift online making trusting therapeutic relationships harder. Yet online delivery also improved access to personalized, culturally sensitive care, supporting a blended in-person and virtual approach.

Comprehensive sexuality education often fails 2SLGBTQ+ people with developmental disabilities, leaving gaps that many fill online. Researchers interviewed twelve 2SLGBTQ+ adults with developmental disabilities in Alberta, Canada, about how they use social media to learn about sex, gender identity and sexuality, navigate their identities and find community. Participants described turning to 2SLGBTQ+-focused content for information that school and other offline settings did not provide, including gender pronouns, gender identity and sexual orientations. Online spaces also offered belonging and affirmation that was frequently missing in person. Accessibility and digital literacy barriers persist, but the benefits participants described were substantial and hard to replace.

Photovoice moved online during the pandemic, but how virtual versions handle participatory action research and knowledge dissemination has been unclear. Reflecting on a virtual photovoice study of men's experiences and views of equitable intimate partner relationships, this methodological article offers three lessons. First, selecting representative images from 714 participant photographs required adapting preview, review, and cross-photo comparison techniques while honouring participatory principles. Second, Zoom polls let participants vote anonymously on favourite photographs, which equalised input though it also surfaced differing cultural norms across locations. Third, online exhibitions reach diverse audiences only with deliberate marketing, media attention, and interactivity that sustains engagement.

Older trans and gender-diverse people are rarely the focus of research on aging and care. This Canadian qualitative study convened six virtual focus groups with 21 participants, including TGD adults aged 50 and over, service providers and community advocates, to examine healthcare and social service experiences and needs. Guided by critical gerontology and intersectionality, and using interpretive description, the researchers compared perspectives across those groups. Histories of marginalization, precarity, ongoing intersectional oppression and resistance all shaped how participants engaged with systems of care, while community-driven, ground-up efforts emerged as a key response to evolving needs, with implications for policy and practice.