In the past few weeks, the spread of the COVID-19 has affected the lives of many across the globe, claiming lives and rendering many others hospitalized. At the time of writing this piece, more than 272,000 people have contracted the virus and at least 11,310 have died from the virus.
And LGBTQ+ people all over the world are not spared from the effects of this public health crisis. To this effect, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a research brief to outline the “health and economic risks faced by the LGBTQ community during the COVID-19 [outbreak]”.
“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,”, the research brief highlights.
The research takes a deep dive how certain conditions which LGBTQ+ people are prone to, like increased exposure, economic disparities, and barriers to care; working in highly affected industries; poverty gaps; unemployment and poverty among LGBTQ people put them at a higher risk of being affected by the virus, and the (health, social, economic, and financial) effects of the global outbreak.
For example, as highlighted in the report:
- 17% of LGBTQ people lack health coverage;
- One in five LGBTQ people have not seen a doctor when they needed to because they couldn’t afford it;
- 37% of LGBTQ adults smoke every day compared to 27% of non-LGBTQ people;
- 21% of LGBTQ people have asthma, compared to 14% of non-LGBTQ people;
- LGBTQ people are more likely to work jobs in highly affected industries, often with more exposure and/or higher economic sensitivity to the COVID-19 crisis
- One in five LGBTQ people live in poverty and 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ;
- The top 5 industries that LGBTQ adults work in are industries heavily impacted by COVID-19, affecting more than 5 million LGBTQ workers or 40% of LGBTQ workers (compared to 22% of non-LGBTQ individuals working in those industries)
- A disproportionate number of LGBTQ people work in restaurants (15%) compared to their non-LGBTQ peers (6%) and the median wage in 2018 for food preparation and service occupations is $11.09 per hour;
- Only 29% of respondents to HRC Foundation’s 2018 LGBTQ Paid Leave Survey said their employer offers paid leave specifically for medical reasons and that they were eligible to use it.
