US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a government health agency.
Background
In 1946 the US goverment founded the Communicable Disease Center as an expansion of a malaria control project that started during World War II.
Transgender health
Much of the CDC’s work with the trans and gender diverse population focuses on prevention of sexually transmitted infections, particularly HIV. Due to multiple socioeconomic factors, several demographic groups in our community are at higher risk of contracting these diseases.
In a 2023 national survey of high school students conducted by CDC, they reported the following:
Approximately 3.3% of high school students identified as transgender, and 2.2% reported questioning if they were transgender (Table 2). Most students (94.5%) did not identify as transgender or questioning. Differences in demographic characteristics were observed by transgender identity. Approximately half of cisgender students reported female sex (47.5%). Approximately two thirds of transgender or questioning students reported female sex (64.2% and 64.3%, respectively). Differences in race and ethnicity by transgender identity were observed. A lower proportion of transgender students identified as Black and higher proportion identified as White compared with cisgender or questioning students. In addition, for questioning students, differences in grade distribution were observed.
Differences in sexual identity were observed by transgender identity. Most cisgender students reported their sexual identity as heterosexual (79.4%), whereas only 8.7% of transgender students and 7.5% of questioning students identified as heterosexual. Transgender questioning students had a higher prevalence of questioning their sexual identity (20.4%) than both cisgender and transgender students (4.1% and 7.0%, respectively). The prevalence of students who described their sexual identity in some other way was greatest among transgender students (32.8%), followed by transgender questioning students (23.2%), with only 2.9% of cisgender students identifying as such.
References
Suarez NA, Trujillo L, McKinnon II, Mack KA, Lyons B, Robin L, Carman-McClanahan M, Pampati S, Cezair KLR, Ethier KA (2023). Disparities in School Connectedness, Unstable Housing, Experiences of Violence, Mental Health, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Cisgender High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023. MMWR Suppl 2024;73(Suppl-4):50–58. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7304a6
Resources
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov)
- Fast Facts: HIV and Transgender People (2024)
- cdc.gov/hiv/data-research/facts-stats/transgender-people.html
- Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons (2021)
- cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/trans.htm
- Prevalence of Discrimination and the Association Between Employment Discrimination and Health Care Access and Use — National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women, Seven Urban Areas, United States, 2019–2020 (2024)
- cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7301a6.htm
- Nonprescription Hormone Use Among Transgender Women — National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women, Seven Urban Areas, United States, 2019–2020 (2024)
- cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7301a4.htm
- Transgender Women Experiencing Homelessness — National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women, Seven Urban Areas, United States, 2019–2020 (2024)
- cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7301a5.htm
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)