Heteronormativity and the Israeli healthcare experience: A qualitative study of LGBTQ individuals.

General health disparities have been found in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community which extend beyond conditions directly associated with sexual health. It is posited that stigma can create a continuous strain that negatively impacts health. This study set out to examine both the routine practices within healthcare which may contribute to experienced stigma within the LGBTQ population and whether and how religion affects the presence of stigma for LGBTQ individuals in meetings with the healthcare system. As such, 16 individuals who self-identify as LGBTQ were recruited via word-of-mouth and snowball sampling and then asked open-ended questions regarding their experiences of stigma and the Israeli healthcare system. Analysis revealed three main themes related to stigma and healthcare experiences: heteronormativity in healthcare settings, Hebrew as a gendered language, and religion as exacerbating heteronormative assumptions. The conclusion includes recommendations for interventions aimed at the reduction of social stigma for LGBTQ individuals as a way of reducing health disparities.