Nobody’s Gathering Data on How Coronavirus Impacts LGBTQ+ Patients

The United Nations has called for countries to address disparities, but Republicans in at least one state spoke out against those efforts.
Statues of Gay Liberation Monument wearing protective facial bandanas seen during COVID19 pandemic at Christopher Park...
Statues of Gay Liberation Monument wearing protective facial bandanas seen during COVID-19 pandemic at Christopher Park in New York, NY Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Getty Images

 

Lawmakers and civil rights groups are sounding the alarm over coronavirus reporting that omits data on how the virus impacts LGBTQ+ people. A growing number of local and state officials are calling on the federal government to address reporting flaws — but so far, there’s no sign that action will be taken.

Last week, lawmakers from New York, California, Colorado, and Pennsylvania held a virtual townhall to shine a spotlight on the fact that minorities, including African Americans and Latinos, are experiencing higher death and infection rates. The CDC is not currently analyzing data by sexual orientation or gender identity, as they already do for race, gender, and age.

In addition, states hardest hit by the pandemic — New York, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Michigan — are not collecting any data on LGBTQ+ coronavirus infection.

“If you don’t know where it hurts, you don’t know how much it hurts, you’ll never fix what hurts,” Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic Pennsylvania state representative, said on the call. Kenyatta, the first openly gay state legislator in Pennsylvania history, recently introduced a bill that would facilitate the collection of data on LGBTQ+ health.

“We are ignored, and the scope of the problem is not readily available in data that we can all share,” he said.

“You can’t address a problem you can’t see,” said Drexel University’s Randall Sell, an expert in LGBTQ+ demographic study. “It could be wiping out whole communities and we don’t know.”

In New Jersey, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Garden State Equality is pushing lawmakers to require more detailed reporting.

"LGBTQ people and marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted by the current pandemic,” wrote Garden State Equality Executive Director Christian Fuscarino in a statement. “Our community experiences higher rates of cancer, HIV, and tobacco use, which puts LGBTQ people at greater risk against COVID-19.”

Republican Assemblyman Hal Wirths pushed back, saying that “this is the last thing our health workers should be concentrating on right now.”

Parker Space, another Republican Assemblyman, called monitoring of LGBTQ+ health “government overreach.”

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet noted that LGBTQ+ people are among the most at risk from the pandemic. The UN called for special measures to monitor LGBTQ+ health and address systemic disparities.

“In countries where same-sex relations are criminalised or trans people targeted, they might not even seek treatment for fear of arrest or being subjected to violence,” Bachelet said.

The United States the world’s highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with deaths passing 70,000 this week. The month is likely to end with well over 100,000 Americans dead.

“Medicine has a long history of ignoring minority groups, including LGBTQ people, resulting in worse health outcomes,” Jack Turban, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, wrote to Reuters. “We can’t continue to make that mistake.”


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