Oral Presentation Cancer Survivorship 2019

Inclusion in cancer survivorship care: addressing the sexual concerns of LGBTIQ cancer survivors (#29)

Janette Perz 1
  1. Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

Research has increasingly recognised the profound impact that cancer can have upon embodied subjectivity and gender identity. However, there has been little acknowledgment of the centrality of sexuality to subjectivity, and marginalisation of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGTBT) cancer survivors. This paper will present the results of a program of Australian mixed method research examining sexual embodiment and subjectivity after cancer across a range of cancer types and stages in LGBTI cancer survivors. This includes a study of 147 gay and bisexual (GB) men with prostate cancer, and accounts of 23 LGBT cancer survivors who took part in a study of sexuality across tumour types. Across gender and sexual identities, participants took up the following post-cancer subject positions: ‘Dys-embodied sexual subjectivity’ - characterised by bodily betrayal, sexual loss, lack of acceptance, challenges to gender identity; ‘Re-embodied sexual subjectivity’ – characterised by greater sexual confidence, acceptance, the exploration of non-coital sexual practices, and increased relational closeness; and ‘Oscillating sexual subjectivity’ – involving a shift between states of sexual dys-embodiment and sexual re-embodiment. Gay and bisexual men were more likely than lesbian and bisexual women to report disembodied sexual subjectivity, associated with reports of psychological distress and disruption to intimate relationships. The findings point to the importance of an intersectional framework in understanding sexual subjectivity after cancer.