Nondiscrimination rules—statutes, regulations, and soft law protections—are critical for reducing health and health care disparities. Although scholarship has interrogated how nondiscrimination rules affect behavior by discriminators, comparatively little has considered how protections can affect choices made by members of protected groups. A number of states and some interpretations of federal law protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This Article seeks to identify relationships between actual state law, perceived state law, and experiences of discrimination and medical mistrust. This Article reports the results of a national cross-sectional survey of over 3,000 men using Grindr to meet male partners. Participants scored comparable to chance in knowledge about state nondiscrimination protections, with “optimistic errors” (erroneous beliefs that one was protected) significantly more common than pessimistic errors. Perceptions of protection were significantly correlated with lower medical mistrust and greater uptake of care, as well as lower perceived barriers to disclosure and care-seeking. Actual state law protections, however, were significant predictors of having had discussions with providers that depended on disclosure of sexual behavior or orientation. Building on these results, this Article considers pathways by which nondiscrimination law may exert welcome mat (and “unwelcome mat”) effects.

中文翻译：

---

非歧视法下的保护观念

非歧视规则——法规、法规和软法律保护——对于减少健康和医疗保健差距至关重要。尽管学术研究了非歧视规则如何影响歧视者的行为，但很少有人考虑保护措施如何影响受保护群体成员的选择。许多州和对联邦法律的一些解释保护人们免受基于性取向的歧视。本文旨在确定实际的州法律、感知的州法律以及歧视和医疗不信任的经历之间的关系。本文报告了一项全国性横断面调查的结果，该调查对 3,000 多名使用 Grindr 与男性伴侣进行约会的男性进行了调查。参与者在了解国家不歧视保护方面的得分与机会相当，“乐观错误”（认为自己受到保护的错误信念）明显比悲观错误更常见。对保护的感知与较低的医疗不信任和更多的护理接受度以及较低的披露和寻求护理障碍的感知显着相关。然而，实际的州法律保护是与依赖披露性行为或性取向的提供者进行讨论的重要预测因素。在这些结果的基础上，本文考虑了非歧视法可能施加欢迎垫（和“不受欢迎垫”）效果的途径。以及降低披露和寻求护理的感知障碍。然而，实际的州法律保护是与依赖披露性行为或性取向的提供者进行讨论的重要预测因素。在这些结果的基础上，本文考虑了非歧视法可能施加欢迎垫（和“不受欢迎垫”）效果的途径。以及降低披露和寻求护理的感知障碍。然而，实际的州法律保护是与依赖披露性行为或性取向的提供者进行讨论的重要预测因素。在这些结果的基础上，本文考虑了非歧视法可能施加欢迎垫（和“不受欢迎垫”）效果的途径。