LGBTQ+ care: Clinical guidance for family physicians
One of the goals of family medicine is to provide patient-centered care to all patients.
LGBTQ+ patients should always be treated with dignity when seeking and receiving health care. But often, they experience significant disparities in care and barriers to health care access that can lead to health complications. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is committed to supporting equitable, patient-centered care for LGBTQ+ patients and families.
This page features education, access to advocacy organizations and patient resources that can dramatically improve access and the experiences of LGBTQ+ patients, resulting in the respectful care they deserve.
Practice-based resources
Providing respectful, affirming care starts with creating a clinical environment where LGBTQ+ patients feel safe, seen and understood. These practice-based resources offer evidence-informed guidance you and your team can use to strengthen cultural competence, use inclusive language, improve documentation and workflows, and support patient-centered care across sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Whether you are building foundational knowledge or refining day-to-day practice habits, these tools can help your team provide more consistent, equitable care.
Tools to support inclusive clinical care
Explore these training modules and webinar series to strengthen cultural competence and support a more welcoming, inclusive clinical environment for LGBTQIA+ patients.
Strengthen your understanding of LGBTQIA+ and sexual and gender minority (SGM) terminology and explore practical guidance for creating an inclusive environment through policies, processes and patient-facing forms.
These clinical guidelines offer practical, evidence-based recommendations for delivering affirming care to transgender and gender nonbinary patients, from primary care considerations to hormone therapy management.
Maintaining patient confidentiality is a top priority for family physicians and their patients. A common concern is protecting sensitive services—including STI testing and treatment, mental health services, drug treatment, family planning, gender-affirming care and intimate partner violence care—from being disclosed in insurance billing documents such as explanations of benefits (EOBs).
Learn what you can do to protect or exclude the disclosure of sensitive patient information in explanation of benefits notifications.
Navigating patient confidentiality and explanation of benefits in medical billing
Advocacy and community engagement
Health care settings are deeply affected by policy, access and community conditions, and LGBTQ+ patients often experience barriers that go beyond the exam room. This section features advocacy-focused resources that highlight AAFP involvement, along with external organizations working to advance equity and protect civil rights. You will also find educational and community-based resources that can support outreach, patient connection and a broader understanding of the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, youth and families.
Advocacy resources and community support
Learn more about physician advocacy to protect transgender patients and reproductive health, and explore how the AAFP policy process creates opportunities to strengthen support for LGBTQ+ family physicians and the LGBTQ+ community.
These organizations represent and support LGBTQ+ people and allies across the country, including health professionals, educators, legal advocates, community leaders, youth-serving organizations and peer-support networks. Together, they advance equality through advocacy, education, litigation and direct support.
- Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
- The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
- Human Rights Campaign
- Lambda Legal
- LGBT National Help Center
- The National Center for Transgender Equality
- Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
- Trans Lifeline
- The Trevor Project (suicide prevention for LGBTQ under 25)
These resources offer supportive, practical information for people exploring sexual orientation or gender identity, including teen-focused guidance and community-specific information for intersex individuals and trans men.
Patient resources
Patients may need help finding welcoming care, navigating documentation or accessing support that affirms their identity and improves overall well-being. These resources can be shared directly with patients and families to support care access, strengthen self-advocacy and connect individuals to trusted tools and support networks. Use them as part of care planning, referrals and follow-up to help ensure LGBTQ+ patients can access respectful care and reliable information beyond the clinic.
Supportive resources for patients and families
These tools help support equitable, affirming care in practice, including LGBTQ+-inclusive care ratings, guidance for updating name and gender markers on identification documents and a directory for finding providers who perform gender-affirming procedures.
Policies and positions
AAFP policies and position papers reflect the Academy’s commitment to equitable, culturally proficient care for LGBTQ+ patients, families and physicians. These links outline AAFP’s guidance and policy positions across key issues, including transgender and gender nonbinary care, health equity, culturally proficient care, sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention and management and opposition to reparative therapy. This section can also support local advocacy, education planning and organizational alignment on inclusive care.
AAFP guidance on equity and inclusive care
These AAFP policies and resources reflect the Academy’s commitment to health equity, culturally proficient care and inclusive support for LGBTQ+ individuals and families. Topics include transgender and gender nonbinary patient care, coverage equity, STI prevention and management and opposition to reparative therapy.
- Care for the transgender and gender nonbinary patient
- Civil marriage equality
- Coverage equity for drugs, testing, procedure, preventive services and reproductive technologies
- Culturally proficient health care
- Equality for all families
- Health equity
- Reparative therapy
- Sensitivity to diversity and cultural proficiency in AAFP education
- Prevention and Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections
Explore practical guidance on advancing health equity through work on social determinants of health, along with resources to help strengthen cultural sensitivity when caring for diverse patient populations.