I'm a gay white man in my sixties, and over my lifetime I have often chosen to keep my status as a gay man from my doctor — even though failing to disclose might adversely affect my health care.

I have to do a balancing act in my head. Is losing his respect going to be medically worse for me than not telling him about things that might improve his diagnostics and treatment?

(For example, standards of care recommend different vaccine regimens for men who have sex with men, based on good data about risk factors.)

So if I (as a reasonably assertive, reasonably well informed, English-fluent White man) can feel afraid to disclose important things about myself to my physician, I can only imagine how intimidated an English-learning, brown-skinned immigrant might feel.