A Systematic Review of Sexuality Measurement in Transgender and Gender Diverse Populations

Research related to the lives of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people has grown substantially in recent years. One area of such growth has been research on TGD people's sexuality. Sexuality can include sexual behaviors, sexual attraction, and sexual identity, among other domains. Historically, sexuality of TGD people was often policed by providers with expectations of heterosexuality or the conflation of sexuality and gender experiences. This resulted in a lag in understanding the lived experiences of TGD people in relation to sexuality. In this review, we examine research that has been conducted over the past 5 years with any measurement of sexuality with TGD participants. The initial search revealed 11,891 articles. After removing duplicates, there were 6,538 articles in the abstract review stage, with 1,669 retained for full text review and 179 retained for extraction. Most studies included majority white samples, and about half were conducted solely in the United States. Most studies measured a single dimension of sexuality, specifically sexual identity, whereas only 2.2% asked about all three dimensions of identity, behavior, and attraction. Of those that inquired about sexual identity, most samples were majority sexual minorities. Many studies had issues related to inclusivity, such as the language used in response options or questions. These findings are placed within the context of the revised 2021 guidelines for practice with sexual minorities and emphasize the importance of diversifying our field's understandings and assessments of sexuality for TGD people.