Impact of gender transition on sexuality and diversity of practices ; Impact of gender transition on sexuality and diversity of practices: a qualitative analysis of reddit discussions

International audience ; ObjectivesTransgender people are a heterogeneous and growing population in visibility and numbers. There is littleresearch on their sexuality, especially outside of a heterosexual binary approach. The physical,psychological, and social changes associated with transition make knowledge developed about cisgenderpeople difficult to apply. Internet remains the preferred source to access information. In addition,transgender people face documented difficulties in accessing health care systems, including lack ofknowledge among professionals and discrimination. The objective of this study is to report on the diversityof practices and issues related to the impact of transition on sexuality. It is conducted in a participatorymanner, under the direction of a transgender person and in connection with the community.MethodsA quantitative content analysis was performed on a pool of most relevant threads and comments aboutthe topic "asktransgender" on Reddit. In accordance with the participatory approach, the relevant threadshave been selected by two researchers, one of whom is transgender. Corpus analysis techniques wereused to highlight the potential impacts of transition on sexuality and the diversity of practices. Secondly,the results were analyzed by gender and experience of transition.ResultsReddit is mostly used by transgender people asking for advice to other users about behavioral andhormonal impact of gender transition, as well as sexual practices outside of gender binarity. The resultsshow a significant gap between research evidence and the needs of those involved. Social exclusion andfear of violence appear as central aspects of actual or anticipated sexual experiences.ConclusionsThere is an important need to develop research and clinical approaches to support transgender people inmaintaining and developing positive sexuality. This field largely questions the established boundariesbetween normal and pathological and raises epistemic questions about the sexological approach and morebroadly ...