FACT BRIEF

Did the CDC say that LGBTQ individuals could be relatively more at risk of severe COVID-19?

Monday, February 8, 2021

By Christopher Hutton

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YES

A February 2021 CDC report notes that “sexual minority persons” in the U.S. self-report higher “prevalences of several underlying health conditions associated with severe outcomes from COVID-19 than do heterosexual persons.” Given those risk factors, the CDC should track those populations in the data it collects on COVID-19 cases and deaths, the report said.

The report, using survey data from 2017 to 2019, finds that LGBTQ individuals have a higher prevalence of conditions including asthma, heart disease, cancer and kidney disease. They also have higher rates of obesity and are more likely to smoke.

The report says that including measures of sexual orientation and gender identity in its hospitalization and mortality data would help track COVID-19’s impact on LGBTQ communities, in line with a Biden administration executive order to focus on “key equity indicators” in its COVID-19 response.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Sexual orientation disparities in risk factors for adverse COVID-19 -related outcomes, by race/ethnicity

Federal Register: Ensuring a data-driven response to COVID-19 (Jan. 21, 2021 executive order)

Human Rights Campaign: The lives and livelihoods of many in the LGBTQ community are at risk amidst COVID-19 crisis

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