A new study has found that Black LGBTQ+ adults face higher rates of health disparities, discrimination, economic hardships, and violence than their non-LGBTQ+ Black counterparts.
According to a Monday report from The Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles, 11.3 million Americans identify as LGBTQ+ and roughly 1.2 million of those individuals are Black. Of the Black LGBTQ+ population surveyed, 26% of Black LGBTQ+ adults reported that they have been clinically diagnosed with depression, nearly twice the rate of Black non-LGBTQ+ adults (15%). The report revealed that Black queer women were likelier to be diagnosed with depression (29%), more than any other demographic in the Black community. Those numbers fell to 17% for non-queer Black women, 21% for Black queer men, and 12% for non-queer Black men.
The study also found that Black queer adults were likelier to engage in high-risk health behaviors, such as smoking and heavy drinking, compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.
Based on those results, the study concludes that Black LGBTQ+ people “may be more in need of… policy and services interventions, particularly related to improving conditions for economic stability, safety from violence, and mental health.”
“Future research should examine in more detail the factors that are driving the poor outcomes for Black people overall, as well as the differences between Black LGBT and non-LGBT adults in the U.S,” it continues.
Key areas of focus included the healthcare experiences of Black LGBTQ+ adults. The report found that 17% of these individuals were covered under Medicaid, a federal health insurance program designed to meet the needs of low-income Americans. In contrast, just 13% of Black non-LGBTQ+ adults relied on Medicaid for their health coverage.
In addition to illustrating the higher rates of poverty across all LGBTQ+ populations, especially trans women of color, these findings suggest Black LGBTQ+ people may face additional barriers when seeking care. According to a 2014 study conducted by the Columbia School of Social Work, respondents reported that doctors were often demeaning toward them because of their Medicaid status. This led to higher rates of “unmet health needs, poorer perceptions of quality of care, and worse health across several self-reported measures,” according to researchers.
Meanwhile, a 2011 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs found that doctors are more likely to reject Medicaid recipients.
Though the Williams Institute study reported that the majority (71%) of Black LGBTQ+ respondents are “out” to their health care providers, many reported hesitancy to reveal aspects of their identities, including their sexual orientation and gender identity. Around 70% of Black LGBTQ+ respondents said they had a personal doctor, which is somewhat lower than the 77% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who said the same. That discrepancy could affect their long-term access to care.
The report didn’t solely focus on health care, however. The Williams Institute also found that just 29% of Black transgender adults felt connected to their wider community, a much smaller number than the 62% of Black cisgender LGB respondents who said the same. Overall, Black LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ adults reported feeling similarly strong bonds toward the Black community and shared similar feelings of general social support.
Nearly all Black adults — regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity — reported experiencing daily discrimination. The study shows that 82% of Black LGBTQ+ respondents struggled with injustice on a routine basis, in contrast with 79% of non-LGBTQ+ adults.
Last year, the National LGBT Health Education Center reported many of these exact same issues when surveying Black LGBTQ+ adults about their everyday lives. “LGBTQ people experience disproportionate behavioral health struggles such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, substance use, and suicidality, often in response to external and internalized stressors produced by an oppressive environment,” that study noted.
The report went on to say that mental health stigma makes it more challenging for the individuals surveyed to seek mental health services. In addition, stigma can magnify the mental health challenges of Black LGBTQ+ adults whose “symptoms may be further exacerbated and at times caused by structural forces such as racism, ethnocentrism, and poverty,” it said.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
