. 2020 Sep 1;49(7):2301–2318. doi: 10.1007/s10508-020-01810-y

Table 5.

Emergent themes from focus group and cognitive interview participants assessing the responses of SGM people to questions on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), along with exemplar quotes

Emergent theme	Exemplar quote
Fluidity and complexity matter: SOGI questions did not allow for fluidity and complexity, reducing inclusion and representation	“When you ask a person their identity, I think instead of giving them boxes and labels to choose, I think the nicest thing would be is to put a line and let you put what you want your damn self. That would be the greatest thing in the world.” (51 years old, African American, woman/trans woman, assigned male at birth, straight, mixed focus group) “My own orientation has changed over time, you know? […] [Using the term ‘current’] is an acknowledgement that that’s a piece of my life. Like the question is validating. That, and saying ‘That’s okay. Like, you don’t have to be in a static box and we get that. Where are you at right now?’” (32 years old, White, woman/genderqueer or gender non-conforming, assigned female at birth, lesbian, cognitive interview)
SOGI dimension matters: SOGI question stems and answer choices were often not clear as to which SOGI dimension was being assessed	“I guess it depends on what the writers of the study are looking for. Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least break it down into, ‘What does your behavior include, past and present?’ or ‘What kinds of activities have you engaged in?’ And then if they want to know about your sexual orientation or your romantic orientation, that’s a different thing. So I would hope that they ask for what they actually want to know.” (24 years old, White, woman, assigned female at birth, lesbian/queer, sexual minority women focus group) “We kept mentioning how important it is to understand what they’re getting at. And I just think there is this critical difference between how you identify and what you do. And to hold those two things as both okay is a hard thing to accomplish without two questions that are really explicit.” (30, White, woman, assigned female at birth, lesbian, sexual minority women focus group)

Emergent theme

Exemplar quote

Fluidity and complexity matter: SOGI questions did not allow for fluidity and complexity, reducing inclusion and representation

“When you ask a person their identity, I think instead of giving them boxes and labels to choose, I think the nicest thing would be is to put a line and let you put what you want your damn self. That would be the greatest thing in the world.” (51 years old, African American, woman/trans woman, assigned male at birth, straight, mixed focus group)

“My own orientation has changed over time, you know? […] [Using the term ‘current’] is an acknowledgement that that’s a piece of my life. Like the question is validating. That, and saying ‘That’s okay. Like, you don’t have to be in a static box and we get that. Where are you at right now?’” (32 years old, White, woman/genderqueer or gender non-conforming, assigned female at birth, lesbian, cognitive interview)

SOGI dimension matters: SOGI question stems and answer choices were often not clear as to which SOGI dimension was being assessed

“I guess it depends on what the writers of the study are looking for. Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least break it down into, ‘What does your behavior include, past and present?’ or ‘What kinds of activities have you engaged in?’ And then if they want to know about your sexual orientation or your romantic orientation, that’s a different thing. So I would hope that they ask for what they actually want to know.” (24 years old, White, woman, assigned female at birth, lesbian/queer, sexual minority women focus group)

“We kept mentioning how important it is to understand what they’re getting at. And I just think there is this critical difference between how you identify and what you do. And to hold those two things as both okay is a hard thing to accomplish without two questions that are really explicit.” (30, White, woman, assigned female at birth, lesbian, sexual minority women focus group)