To Tell or Not to Tell: Managing Privacy Disclosure among LGBTQ Populations

Abstract

To tell or not tell someone our private health information is, at times, a nerve-wracking experience. Yet, we undergo the stress about when and how to communicate our health concerns on a regular basis, whether we are in the confines of the doctor’s office or in an environment where we feel safe to disclose information. This case study examines various influences affecting the decisions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals to disclose private health information to their health care providers. By exploring the experiences of Kay and Joy, a lesbian couple who have been together for 10 years, we recognize the barriers and benefits they have faced in disclosing personal information to family members, friends, and health care professionals. In this case study, we use Petronio’s (2002) communication privacy management theory as a way for readers to create connections among processes that human beings undergo when identifying whether to disclose health information: “To tell or not to tell is a condition that we frequently face, yet the question is complicated. The question is when to let others know our private side and when to let it stay confidential? …We are constantly in a balancing act” (p. 1).