HEALTH
CDC: Sexual Minorities Face Greater COVID-19 Risks
Report notes prevalance of comorbidities; trans folks excluded from research
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Gay, lesbian, and bisexual
people are more likely
than their straight
peers to have an underlying
health condition associated
with severe COVID-19 outcomes,
according to the CDC.
The CDC’s report released on
February 5 reveals that sexual minorities
often have a medical history
of asthma, strokes, cancer,
heart disease, diabetes, and other
chronic health conditions linked
to more virus-related deaths and
hospitalizations.
The report — which notably did
not include research on the risks
facing transgender folks — also
found that many US COVID-19
trackers do not collect sexual orientation,
underscoring what advocates
have feared: queer people face
an increased risk for COVID-19,
but many states are still not counting
them. This is “hampering” the
nation from examining COVID-19
disparities among LGBTQ patients,
according to the CDC.
While the CDC did not explicitly
mention that gender identityrelated
information is not tracked,
those numbers are also lacking
— and the CDC acknowledge as
much in their report.
“Inclusion of sexual orientation
and gender identity data in
COVID-19 surveillance and other
data collections could improve
knowledge about disparities in
infections and adverse outcomes
among sexual and gender minority
populations, overall and
by race/ethnicity,” researchers
wrote.
The CDC report found that of
the study’s 24,582 sexual minority
respondents, 13.8 percent have
been diagnosed with asthma when
compared to 8.9 percent of non-
LGBTQ people. Black and Hispanic
queer people outpace white
queer people affected by asthma,
the report shows. While the CDC
does not track the race and sexual
orientation of COVID-19 patients,
it is widely reported that people
of color are facing the brunt of
Queer folks march across the Brooklyn Bridge during the Dyke March last June.
COVID-19 hospitalizations and
deaths.
Researchers suggest that stigma
and discrimination are at the root
of these disproportionate statistics.
According to the report, queer
and trans patients experience
greater healthcare bias, which can
make it harder to come out to their
providers, heighten vulnerability
to illness, and make it challenging
to secure quality medical care.
Last November, the CDC reported
that advocacy groups told them
that many COVID-19 surveillance
systems were lagging in tracking
sexual orientation and gender
identity. State Offi cials cited privacy
and nonresponse for not including
the data.
California, Illinois, Washington,
DC, and Pennsylvania collect data
on sexual orientation and gender
identity, but several other states,
including New York, do not. The
New York City Health Department
told Gay City News they do not
manage the data included in the
Citywide Immunization Registry.
“Data reported currently only
captures ‘sex’ categorized as Male,
Female, and Unknown and does
not capture gender identity or sexual
orientation data,” Julia Morrill,
a spokesperson for the city’s Department
of Health, told Gay City
News.
Morrill said the department does
not “regulate what health care providers
include in the electronic
health records.”
City Council Health Chair Mark
Levine told Gay City News the latest
CDC report is “disturbing.” He
said he is proposing legislation
that will mandate the collection
of sexual orientation and gender
DONNA ACETO
identity data.
“New York City must heed this
disturbing CDC report on the
disproportionately high rate of
COVID-19 risk factors among LGBTQ
people — including the critical
recommendation that data be
collected and published on LGBTQ
COVID patients,” Levine said in a
written statement.
Researchers compiled this report
using data from more than
600,000 people recorded in the Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance
System (BRFSS), a national survey
collecting self-reported chronic
health conditions and risk behaviors.
The data was collected between
2017 – 2019. While BRFSS
does have a question about gender
identity, the CDC notes that the
sample of trans and non-binary
adults was too small to include in
the report.
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