A new study has found that gender-affirming care leads to more positive outcomes for trans people with HIV.

The study, published in The Lancet HIV, examined more than eight thousand trans adults of varying genders, races, and insurance statuses from 2013 to 2019. It found that “gender-affirming care is important for optimising HIV outcomes among trans people.”

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Participants who were undergoing gender-affirming therapy had a 37% lower chance of contracting HIV and were 44% less likely to have uncontrolled/transmissable HIV than trans people who were not on hormone treatments.

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The authors wrote that the results “underscore the vital role of gender-affirming models of care and access to gender-affirming hormone therapy for trans people.”

The reasons behind the correlation remain unconfirmed, but expert theories include that trans people undergoing gender-affirming care are already receiving regular medical care, which can then lead them to be more proactive about controlling or preventing HIV infections.

Additionally, psychologist and researcher Jae Sevelius posited a theory in 2014 that when trans people – who are 13 times more likely to be HIV positive than cisgender adults – are affirmed in their gender, they are less likely to engage in the risky behaviors that could cause them to contract the virus.

“It’s really nice to see a very thoughtful, well-done study confirming this, with a pretty significant effect size,” Stanford University epidemiologist Diana Tordoff, who specializes in LGBTQ+ health equity, told Stat.

The study comes at a time when vicious attacks against gender-affirming care are coming from both the White House and Republican-led state legislatures.

Upon taking office, the president signed an executive order banning gender-affirming care for anyone under 19, and just this morning, the House of Representatives passed a massive bill banning Medicaid (a joint federal-state program that provides health care to people with low incomes) and CHIP (a program that provides health care to children and pregnant people with low incomes) from reimbursing for gender-affirming care (including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery) for trans people of all ages.

Additionally, the current administration has been gutting federal funding for HIV research, which experts have called a “direct threat to public health.”

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