HONOLULU — The Hawaii Department of Health recently released the Hawaii Sexual and Gender Minority Health Report 2018. This is the first state report with a special focus on health issues faced by Hawaii transgender youth. Three percent, or 1,260 public high school students statewide, self-identify as transgender.
HONOLULU — The Hawaii Department of Health recently released the Hawaii Sexual and Gender Minority Health Report 2018. This is the first state report with a special focus on health issues faced by Hawaii transgender youth. Three percent, or 1,260 public high school students statewide, self-identify as transgender.
The report reveals that transgender youth experience greater health disparities than their peers who identify as cisgender (those whose gender identities conform with their biological sex). This difference is even greater than the one that exists between lesbian, gay and bisexual and heterosexual youth. The report also documents the challenges, resiliency and hope for transgender people in Hawaii.
The focus of this year’s report was motivated by tremendous support and requests for more data and greater public health action following the completion of the inaugural 2017 Hawaii Sexual and Gender Minority Health Report.
The 2017 report focused primarily on the health of LGB individuals because data on transgender individuals was insufficient to report at that time. In response, the state Department of Health convened a workgroup with community partners and stakeholders and prioritized a report on health outcomes of transgender youth in Hawaii.
“We are so pleased to produce a report that the community truly needed and asked for,” said DOH Director Dr. Bruce Anderson. “The valuable input and engagement from community stakeholders was critical to developing the report that is the first of its kind to assess the health of transgender youth in Hawaii.”
Important findings of this year’s report showed that transgender youth are significantly more likely to use substances including tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Transgender youth who are victims of bullying or violence also often face adverse mental-health problems, which increases their propensity towards substance abuse and other risky health behaviors.
3% is an interesting result. The national average is 0.5%. Why does Hawaii have six times the national average of transgender individuals at the High School level?
Three percent? That’s pretty funny because that’s about 5 times the national average. I think the DOH got punked by some kids self identifying who aren’t actually transgender.