LGBT community members are at higher risk for severe symptoms of COVID-19, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the report, the CDC found that members of the LGBT community are more likely to have underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk of contracting coronavirus and severe symptoms of the disease.
The report used data from the 2017-2019 Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, a collection of health surveys that gathers demographic and health-related information from uninstitutionalized U.S. residents over the age of 18 to determine health disparities.
“When age, sex, and survey year are adjusted, sexual minorities are more prevalent than heterosexual people with self-reported cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, including myocardial infarction, angina, or coronary heart disease. ) heart disease), obesity, smoking, diabetes, asthma, hypertension and stroke, “the report said.
The report adds that racial and ethnic minority groups who are also members of the LGBT community are at increased risk for severe coronavirus symptoms compared to their heterosexual counterparts. In addition, members of the LGBT community are more likely to suffer discrimination and stigma that may increase their risk of illness and limit their access to adequate health care, according to the agency.
“People who are members of both sexual minorities and racial / ethnic minority groups may therefore experience a convergence of distinct social, economic and environmental disadvantages that increase the differences in chronic diseases and the risk of adverse outcomes related to COVID-19 “, the report concluded.
From the earliest stages of the pandemic, the CDC said that those with underlying health conditions, including older adults and immunosuppression, are at increased risk for more severe symptoms and even death from coronavirus.
The agency also released data stating that black Americans are up to three times more likely than white Americans to die from coronavirus.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s largest LGBT rights organization, released data in 2020 that echoed these findings from the CDC.
The report released by the organization stated that members of the LGBT community have an increased risk of contracting the disease due to a number of factors, such as high-COVID-19 exposure, a wealth gap and lack of health coverage.
“This report states what LGBTQ advocates and organizations have argued over time: Our community is at greater risk and disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 health crisis,” said HRC President Alphonso David. marginalized communities are fully captured by the collection of government data so that they can be addressed quickly. ”
The authors of Thursday’s CDC report said the current “COVID-19 surveillance systems” do not capture information about sexual orientation and called for more data to be collected about the LGBT community and coronavirus.