• 412-01 - Being Queer: Transgender Children and Family Identity. Presented by: Barbara Gurr, 2011 Jessie Bernard Research Proposal Winner
  
• 412-02 - Parents With Transgender Children Navigate the Health Care System
  Presented by: Katherine Kuvalanka, Judith Weiner
• 412-03 - Health Outcomes for Lesbian/Bisexual Moms in Poverty Compared to Heterosexual Moms
  Presented by: Elizabeth Holman, Ramona Oswald, Sheila Mammen
• 412-04 - How Past Relationships Influence LGB Young Adult’s Relationship Quality
  Presented by: Joel Muraco, Stephen Russell, Melissa Curran

Abstracts

Parents With Transgender Children Navigate the Health Care System

Presented by: Katherine Kuvalanka, Judith Weiner

Parents of transgender and gender-nonconforming youth face a multitude of challenges related to their children's health. Yet, very little empirical data exist in regard to these parents' experiences when seeking medical and mental health advice and services for their children. This presentation will aim to address this gap by analyzing participant responses from a longitudinal study of 40 families with transgender/gender-nonconforming children. We will focus on examining parents' experiences of navigating the health care system to identify challenges they have faced, as well as factors that have facilitated their acquisition and use of health care services for their children.

Health Outcomes for Lesbian/Bisexual Moms in Poverty Compared to Heterosexual Moms

Presented by: Elizabeth Holman, Ramona Oswald, Sheila Mammen

Research on health outcomes among lesbian and bisexual (LB) women has focused solely on their sexuality and found many disparities. From an intersectionality perspective, however, the complexity of these women's lives cannot be ignored. Living in a rural location and in poverty may also greatly impact both their physical and mental health. Comparisons between 17 LB mothers and 17 heterosexual mothers show that these health disparities disappear when the entire sample is living in poverty in rural counties. These findings of ""no difference"" open the door to understanding previously found health disparities among LB women within more complex contexts.

How Past Relationships Influence LGB Young Adult’s Relationship Quality

Presented by: Joel Muraco, Stephen Russell, Melissa Curran

Little is known about how adolescent romantic relationships influence romantic relationships in young adulthood, especially for LGB individuals. In this study, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine how various person-level characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation) moderate the association between having had same-sex romantic relationship experience as an adolescent and romantic relationship quality in young adulthood. Results show that this association is significantly moderated by the sexual orientation of the individual such that more past same-sex relationship experience results in better romantic relationship quality for LGB young adults.