A new survey released by the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, examines
COVID-19 and LGBTQ health equity.
The
research shows LGBTQ people are very likely to be vaccinated.
Ninety-one percent of the 1,500
surveyed adults said that they had already been vaccinated. Only 6
percent said that they had no plans to get vaccinated.
Jay Brown, senior vice president of
programs, research, and training at HRC, said that the data suggests
disproportionately higher rates of infection among LGBTQ people.
“Even though LGBTQ+ people are likely
getting vaccinated at impressively high rates, the evidence suggests
that the community may have also gotten COVID-19 at
disproportionately higher rates and are far more concerned about the
dangers of the Delta variant,” Brown said. “The data shows what
we have long known – those living at the intersections of multiple
marginalized identities bear the brunt of this pandemic. We are
living through a global health crisis with no clear end in sight,
that is why it is crucial for every person to get vaccinated and for
vaccination efforts to be inclusive of marginalized communities.”
HRC's David Paisley noted that there
were unique concerns in the LGBTQ community, such as questions about
how the vaccine interacts with HIV medications and hormone therapies.
“This research is crucial because it
is the first-of-its-kind and it achieved such a large number of
LGBTQ+ participants – that allows researchers to understand
COVID-19 response differences within our community by gender
identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and generation,” Paisley
said. “The data also allows us to understand the unique concerns
within our community, such as vaccine interaction concerns with HIV
medications and hormone therapies.”
Roughly 20 percent of LGBT adults
reported having a bout with the virus.