RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Experiences of violence and discrimination among LGBTQ+ individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global cross-sectional analysis
JF BMJ Global Health
JO BMJ Global Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e009400
DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009400
VO 7
IS 9
A1 Tyler Adamson
A1 Elle Lett
A1 Jennifer Glick
A1 Henri M Garrison-Desany
A1 Arjee Restar
YR 2022
UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/7/9/e009400.abstract
AB Objectives To characterise the extent to which the levels of violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people have changed amid COVID-19.Design Cross-sectional, secondary analysis.Setting 79 countries.Participants All adults (aged ≥18 years) who used the Hornet social networking application and provided consent to participate.Main outcome measure The main outcome was whether individuals have experienced less, or the same or more levels of discrimination and violence from specific groups (eg, police and/or military, government representatives, healthcare providers).Results 7758 LGBTQ+ individuals provided responses regarding levels of discrimination and violence. A majority identified as gay (78.95%) and cisgender (94.8%). Identifying as gay or queer was associated with increased odds of experiencing the same or more discrimination from government representatives (OR=1.89, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.45, p=0.045) and healthcare providers (OR=2.51, 95% CI 0.86 to 7.36, p=0.002) due to COVID-19. Being a member of an ethnic minority was associated with increased odds of discrimination and violence from police and/or military (OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.54, p=0.0) and government representatives (OR=1.47, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.69, p=0.0) since COVID-19. Having a disability was significantly associated with increased odds of violence and discrimination from police and/or military (OR=1.38, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.71, p=0.0) and healthcare providers (OR=1.35, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.71, p=0.009).Conclusions Our results suggest that despite the upending nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, around the world, government representatives, policymakers and healthcare providers continue to perpetuate systemic discrimination and fail to prevent violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community.Data are available on request. The data sets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Data were collected in partnership with a social networking app that operates in several countries around the world where LGBTQ+ are actively targeted and discriminated against. Due to the incriminating nature of these data, reasonable requests can be made but are at the discretion of the social networking company.