The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that the coronavirus pandemic is excessively affecting LGBT Americans compared to their peers, according to an analysis released Thursday.
Why it matters: The report is one of the agency’s first public investigations into how the coronavirus affects LGBTQ people, and comes amid an information drought as lawyers take the reins of data collection.
What they found: Self-reported underlying health conditions associated with severe coronavirus symptoms are more common in LGBTQ people, as discrimination can increase disease vulnerability and restrict access to health services, the agency said.
- LGBTQ people in the study reported a higher percentage of asthma, cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, strokes and other conditions than ordinary people.
- Black and Hispanic LGBTQ people are at even greater risk because people of color are more likely to be hospitalized and die from it.
One level deeper: Advocates say LGBTQ Americans, especially young adults, face the risks of poor mental health, homelessness and lost income as a result of the pandemic.
The conclusion: “Gathering sexual orientation data in COVID-19 surveillance and other studies would improve knowledge about inequalities in infection and adverse consequences of sexual orientation, thus informing more equitable responses to the pandemic.
Methodology: The CDC used the 2017-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to investigate differences in underlying conditions between sexual minorities and heterosexual adults. BRFSS is a collection of population health surveys that collect demographic and health information from non-institutionalized U.S. residents 18 years and older.
All conditions are self-reported. The number of respondents identified as transgender or non-binary was too small for reliable estimates compared to the majority cisgender population.