SOGI Questions

Every patient has unique health needs. Research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have health needs that differ from the rest of the population. They also experience higher rates of certain health issues compared to others. Learning about sexual orientation and gender identity will help us to deliver appropriate health services and culturally sensitive care to all our patients.

Gender identity is someone’s inner sense of their gender. For example, a person may think of themselves as male, as female, as a combination of male and female, or as another gender.

Transgender people have a gender identity that is not the same as their sex at birth.

• Transgender man describes someone assigned female at birth who has a male gender identity.
• Transgender woman describes someone assigned male at birth who has a female gender identity.
• Genderqueer and non-binary describe someone who has a gender identity that is neither male nor female or is a combination of male and female.
• Cisgender describes someone who has a gender identity that is the same as their sex at birth.

Sexual orientation is how a person describes their emotional and sexual attraction to others.

• Heterosexual (straight) describes women who are emotionally and sexually attracted to men, and men who are emotionally and sexually attracted to women.
• Gay describes a person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to people of their own gender. It is most commonly used when talking about men.
• Lesbian describes a woman who is emotionally and sexually attracted to other women.
• Bisexual describes a person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to people of their own gender and people of other genders.

There are no right or wrong answers. If you don’t find an answer that fits, you can choose “Other,” or “Don’t know/something else,” or you can talk with your provider.

Your provider(s) and other staff associated with your care will see this information, and it will become part of your medical record. Your information is confidential and protected by law, just like all your other health information.

You have the option to check the box, “Choose not to disclose.” Later, your provider may ask you these questions privately during your visit. You can choose whether to share this information at that point, and/or you can ask your provider more questions.

Your provider(s) will use this information to help meet your health care needs. In addition, gathering this information from all patients allows the health center to see if there are gaps in care or services across different populations. This helps us improve the care we give to our patients.