Center for Population Research in L G B T Health

improving health for sexual and gender minorities

Welcome!

Over the past three decades, a growing cadre of scientists has painstakingly built the knowledge base around LGBT health concerns. It is now widely acknowledged that sexual and gender minority groups experience health disparities as a result of multiple socio-cultural factors. Studies have shown that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations have higher prevalence of life-threatening physical and mental health conditions, experience barriers to health care access, and face substantial threats to quality of life.

The Center for Population Research in LGBT Health supports and stimulates research to fill critical knowledge gaps related to the health of sexual and gender minorities, strengthening the foundation for culturally competent treatment and behavior change models. Our scientific vision is to create an infrastructure that will support the collaborative work of LGBT health researchers and integrate intellectual and methodological expertise in the interdisciplinary fields of LGBT health and population research. We aim for a synergistic increase in productivity as a result. The Center supports the work of collaborating scientists and partner organizations by creating opportunities to meet and plan further research, formalizing a mentorship process for junior scientists, making datasets available for further studies, and creating a platform for ongoing communication and shared projects among the group.

Featured Findings

LGBs More Likely to Experience Discrimination

data image

Research on harassment and discrimination has found that 42% of lesbian/bisexual women and 44% of gay/bisexual men perceived being discriminated against on a day-to-day basis (either "sometimes" or "often") compared to 30% of heterosexual women and 29% of heterosexual men. Furthermore, 42% of sexual minority individuals associated their sexual orientation as the source of the discrimination. (more) Researchers used data from the MacArthur Foundation National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), a large population based probability survey of English-speaking Americans conducted in 1995. Respondents reported their sexual orientation on the survey.

  • 2,844 (93.7%) reported heterosexual orientation
  • 41 (1.4%) reported homosexual orientation
  • 32 (1.1%) reported bisexual orientation
  • 115 (3.8%) did not respond to the orientation question

Among the most common experiences of discriminatory behavior reported by LGBs:

  • "People act as if they think you are not as good as they are" (38.1% LBs compared to 16.6% of heterosexual women; 23.3% of GBs compared to 15.9% of heterosexual men)
  • "Treated with less respect than other people" (29.3% LBs compared to 14.4% of heterosexual women; 21.2% of GBs compared to 13.1% of heterosexual men)
  • "You are called names or insulted" (20.1% LBs compared to 5.9% of heterosexual women; 16.1% of GBs compared to 5.7% of heterosexual men)

(Source: Mays, Vickie & Cochran, Susan, 2001, "Mental Health Correlates of Perceived Discrimination Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, Volume 91, Number 11, pp. 1869-1876.)

For Further Thought

  • How does perceived discrimination affect psychiatric morbidity in sexual minority populations?
  • What are the best ways to clinically address the psychiatric health outcomes of these perceptions of discrimination?
  • What other outcomes might be related to higher levels of perceived discrimination for sexual minorities?

 

 

The Fenway Institute         I C P S R