An Analysis of Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Research Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Purpose Gender identity and sexual orientation are essential factors that must be incorporated into health research to ensure we unearth comprehensive and inclusive insights about the healthcare needs and experiences of diverse people. Despite the calls for more focus on sex and gender in health research, scant attention has been paid to gender identity or sexual orientation. Past research found that 0.35% of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant abstracts mentioned studying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or Two-Spirit (2S/LGBTQ+)-specific health outcomes. However, the nature of that research was not explored. Methods Here we examine the publicly available database of grant abstracts funded by CIHR from 2009-2020 to analyze what type of 2S/LGBTQ+-specific health outcomes would be studied. Results We found that 58% of awarded grant abstracts mentioned studying sexually transmitted diseases, the majority of which were on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Less than 7% of funded 2S/LGBTQ+ grant abstracts mentioned studying cisgender women. Almost 40% mentioned including trans women/girls, and 30% mentioned including trans men/ boys. None of the studies examined mentioned work with the Two-Spirit community. Conclusion These results reflect larger social and health inequities that require structural level changes in research to support lesbian, bisexual and queer women’s health. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Funding was awarded to LAMG from the BC Womens Foundation for this project (AWD-020262). We also gratefully acknowledge funding from the Womens Health Research Cluster to TNS ABN and TFLS. CHL acknowledges funding from the Canada Research Chairs program. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced are available online at