Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Research Scholarships - Master's program

I aim to explore gender-affirming care access among transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse, Two-Spirit, and Indigiqueer people in northern and rural regions of what is colonially referred to as Canada. Gender-affirming care, including social, legal, medical, and surgical supports, is linked to improved well-being. Alternatively, barriers to gender-affirming care, such as long wait times, limited or discriminatory providers, and cost, heighten distress. Current literature remains urban-focused, with a paucity of research in northern and rural Canada. This study partners with the Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC), a national non-profit dedicated to 2S/LGBTQIA+ health. My approach is guided by lived experience, critical feminist theory, anti-oppressive and community-led methods, and a gender-based analysis plus framework. Reflexivity, relational accountability, and cultural safety are essential to address the harms of extractive research and ensure responsiveness to community needs. I will recruit and work with community advisors from northern and rural areas with lived experience accessing gender-affirming care to guide my research. I will conduct a secondary analysis of two cross-sectional national trilingual community health surveys among 2S/LGBTQIA+ people aged 15+ co-led by the CBRC: Sex Now 2025 (online, N=2,066) and Our Bodies Our Health 2025 (in-person, N=4,933). Using multivariate logistic regression, I will explore correlates of gender affirming care access and patient experience, examining statistical interactions between gender, Indigeneity, geography, and age. I will share my findings through publications, presentations, and community-based knowledge mobilization with study advisors to create accessible resources for 2S/LGBTQIA+ organizations and people.