LGBTQ+ health inequalities

• Mental health

• Homelessness

• Alcohol use, drug use and smoking

• Sexual health and HIV

• Domestic abuse

• Sexual violence

• End of life services

• Cervical screening

• Physical activity

• Access to mainstream and specialist NHS services

The Hidden Figures report also shows that for LGBTQ+ people with multiple minority identities, such as also being disabled or older, they experience health inequalities to an even greater extent. 19% of BAME LGBT people have experienced some form of unequal treatment from healthcare staff because they’re LGBT, compared to 13% of LGBT people overall. 19% of disabled LGBT people experienced some sort of addiction in the year preceding the survey, compared to 7% of LGBT people.

Structural inequality

Structural inequality happens when our systems, such as healthcare, education, or our judicial system do not recognise and properly cater for difference and diversity. Some examples of how structural inequalities might play out include:

• Gendered toilets

• Forms and paperwork e.g. a birth certificate only allowing a mother and a father, rather than a second parent

• Lack of same-gender domestic abuse support

• Black people and people of colour being turned away from LGBT venues

• Lack of inclusive sex and relationship education in schools

• Education or employment attainment gaps

• Incarceration gaps

Support and change

National LGBT groups and organisations are key ways of ensuring LGBTQ+ communities are supported and health inequalities are reduced. Use the LGBT Consortium’s member directory to have a look for local or online support. 

Marking LGBTQ+ dates of importance on the calendar at home, work and in the community are ways to raise awareness of the particular experiences of LGBTQ+ communities and increase visibility and affirmative support for these groups.

Lastly, the importance of monitoring sexual orientation, gender identities and trans status cannot be underestimated as shown LGBT Foundation’s Good Practice Guide. Sharing your demographic information with services and organisations can seem daunting if you don’t know what is happening with that information but it is a fundamental step in ensuring services understand the community and begin to meet the needs of and support the LGBTQ+ accessing their services. It is up to organisations to implement this properly and effectively but understanding why it is important can make LGBTQ+ people feel more comfortable in disclosing. Simply, “if we’re not counted, we don’t count”.

Training and evidence courtesy of LGBT Foundation accessed June 2023.

Published by Keisha Tomlinson on 05/07/23