Lives, Livelihoods in the LGBTQ Community at Risk, HRC

LAS VEGAS — (03-20-20) — LGBTQ Community at risk over COVID-19 affecting the lives and livelihoods, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

“Restaurants, nightclubs, gyms, 23,000 retail stores temporarily shutdown, Health care systems overwhelmed and health workers at risk. “

These are some of the things reported by the Human Rights Campaign.

LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS OF MANY IN THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY ARE AT RISK AMIDST COVID-19 CRISIS

As COVID-19 sweeps the world, hundreds of thousands of people have contracted the virus, and every community has been affected. The LGBTQ community in the U.S. — along with many communities around the globe — will face unique challenges.

With the pandemic increasing public awareness in the U.S., the National LGBT Cancer Network, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality and other LGBTQ-supportive groups2 led an effort to bring awareness to the unique health needs LGBTQ people will have throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

More than 100 LGBTQ-supportive organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, joined in a call to health care providers and policymakers to be keenly aware of the community’s needs. Underlying many of the LGBTQ communities’ vulnerabilities are economic disparities that will compound the realities of this global pandemic.

HRC Foundation estimates there are nearly 14 million LGBTQ adults3 and 2 million LGBTQ youth4 in the United States. Based on HRC Foundation’s analyses of General Social Survey (GSS) data, more than 5 million work in jobs that are more likely to be impacted by COVID-19.

This includes those working in restaurants and food services, hospitals, K-12 and higher education, and retail industries.Little is known about COVID-19’s impact on the global economy. In addition, the extent of COVID-19’s economic impact on LGBTQ people as well as the ways in which LGBTQ people are at increased risk of infection and health complications are mostly unknown.

The brief will summarize the ways in which COVID-19 could adversely affect the lives and livelihoods of the LGBTQ community at disproportionate rates.5As this research brief makes clear, in addition to the greater risk of health complications as a result of COVID-19, LGBTQ Americans are more likely than the general population to live in poverty and lack access to adequate medical care, paid medical leave, and basic necessities during the pandemic.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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