Why should we care about sexual minority women with breast cancer?

I have said this in previous blog posts, and it bears repeating: when an entire body of cancer-related literature basically ignores a particular community of women, we all remain ignorant of the experiences of that community, even those of us who are a member of it.

To try to shed some light on the breast cancer experiences of sexual and gender minority women (lesbians, bisexual women, queer women, women who have sex with women, gender queer and trans women - MTF and FTM, intersex people), I am conducting a study of social support and sexual and gender minority (SGM) women with breast cancer.  So far, recruitment has been fairly slow, as this is a difficult population to find. So to directly access a larger number of women and improve response rates, I am using crowd-funding to raise money to recruit potential subjects through the Susan B. Love Foundation's Army of Women.  Please donate for this important study!

Over a series of blog posts, I am sharing detailed sections from my original research proposal, so that you can see what my thinking was in choosing this topic and what I hope to accomplish with the study.  I hope you find my argument compelling enough to make a donation to my Indiegogo campaign and to share the study link with any women you know who might qualify or know someone who qualifies.  
Today's post is about the background of my study - a discussion of the existing literature on breast cancer and non-heterosexual, non-cisgendered women.  I hope you will read it, and post any questions you have in the comments.

Study Background

The invisibility of sexual minority women in breast cancer literature is incongruent with what researchers have identified as differential levels of breast cancer risk among women based on SGM identity, and a greater risk for fatal breast cancers among SGM women. Based on these greater risks, one would expect to find more representations of the breast cancer and survivorship experiences of SGM women.

This invisibility in the breast cancer literature, combined with experiences of heterosexism and homophobia in health care settings, and barriers to health insurance and access, may contribute to under-utilization of breast cancer screenings by lesbian and bisexual women. Increasing the visibility of breast cancer in the lesbian community, and improving understanding of the experiences of SGM women with breast cancer  could improve utilization of breast cancer screenings and reduce heterosexism and homophobia in health care settings.

Previous studies of lesbian and bisexual women cancer survivors indicates the importance of social support in negotiating the cancer experience, as well as the sense of isolation experienced by SGM women, many who do not personally know other SGM women who have had cancer.  Some studies of female SGM cancer survivors indicate that for sexual minority women, sexual identity is not as important to the cancer experience as one might expect, and female SGM cancer survivors may not be experiencing higher levels of anxiety or depression than heterosexual or traditionally-gendered women.

Other research indicates that older women living with female partners are generally more likely to need some assistance with activities of daily living than those living with men . More specific to cancer survivors, female bisexual survivors are more likely to smoke but less likely to report physical inactivity then female heterosexual cancer survivors, and  lesbian and bisexual female cancer survivors report poorer self-rated health than heterosexual female cancer survivors. Other research has identified perceived discrimination and perceived social support as impacting the quality of life of female sexual minority breast cancer survivors . The diversity of findings from the handful of studies of sexual minority women with breast cancer indicates that additional research is needed to understand the stresses experience by this population, and of the supports needed by, and available to, them as they navigate breast cancer treatment and survival.