Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately affects LGBTQ Americans compared to their peers, according to an analysis released Thursday.
Why does it matter: The report is one of the agency’s first public examinations of how the coronavirus affects LGBTQ people and comes amid a drought, as lawyers take the reins of data collection.
What they found: Self-reported underlying health conditions related to severe coronavirus symptoms are more prevalent among LGBTQ people because discrimination can increase vulnerability to disease and limit access to health services, the agency says.
- LGBTQ people in the study reported a higher rate of asthma, cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and other conditions than heterosexual people.
- Black and Hispanic LGBTQ people are at even greater risk because people of color are more likely to be hospitalized with the virus and die from it.
A deeper level: Lawyers say LGBTQ Americans, especially young adults, face increased risks of poor mental health, homelessness and loss of income due to the pandemic.
Conclusion: “Collecting sexual orientation data in COVID-19 surveillance and other studies would improve knowledge about infection disparities and sexual outcomes through sexual orientation, thus informing more equitable responses to the pandemic, “the agency said.
Methodology: CDC used the 2017-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Monitoring System (BRFSS) to examine disparities in baseline conditions between sexual minorities and heterosexual adults. BRFSS is a collection of population health surveys that collects demographic and health information from uninstitutionalized residents of the United States aged ≥18 years.
All conditions are self-reported. The number of respondents who identified as transgender or non-binary was too small for reliable estimates compared to the majority Cisgen population.