Sexual and Gender Minority Health

The aim of this section is to:

• Increase knowledge on sexual and gender minority populations differences in health and health care
• Promote monitoring of health disparities among LGBT populations
• Explore the underlying mechanisms and reasons for health disparities in this group
• Spread knowledge on sexual and gender minority populations differences in health and health care
• Promote the development of interventions that aim to tackle these differences

Further, the section aims at setting methodological standards for European countries to identify sexual and gender minority groups to promote exchange of information and provide a basis for comparative studies

The section’s priorities are to build a network of researchers in the field of sexual and gender minority health from a public health and behavioral science perspective. The section will give the opportunity for researchers and policy makers to discuss conceptual and methodological issues regarding differences in health and health care among sexual and gender minorities. The wide differences in LGBT acceptance and differences in institutional discrimination make cross-European studies particularly suitable for the exploration of the consequences of structural discrimination on health. The special section devoted to LGBT health aim to facilitate such cross-European research initiatives. Such initiatives could greatly increase our knowledge regarding how both individual level and structural level stigma can contribute to ill health.

In addition to these academic aims, the section aims at increasing political attention at national and European levels for consequences of disparities among this group on health and health care. The section and its members will work towards the development of strategies to influence national and European policy makers and politicians to increase their attention to disparities in health among sexual and gender minorities and health care differences.

The section will encourage research presentations at the annual EUPHA meeting and will organize yearly workshops on conceptual and methodological issues. Next to the activities at the annual meeting, national and international workshops and conferences will be stimulated.

The initiative to develop a Section on Sexual and gender minority health is in line with the mission of EUPHA which is to reduce health disparities and work towards an all-inclusive public health agenda. Awareness of health disparities in specific populations has increased during the past decades, and research on psychosocial factors such as discrimination, context and cultural views of health, which influence health disparities, has begun to increase our understanding of the mechanisms behind such inequalities. In addition to ethnicity, disparities based on many other factors such as gender, age, socioeconomic status, geography and disability have been identified. During the past several years, public health policy and research have begun to address the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations, and many official public health agencies call for programs addressing the specific needs of sexual and gender minority groups. Still, the public health consequences of discrimination towards LGBT individuals have only recently been a topic of investigation and current knowledge in the area is limited. Recent findings points to a much higher prevalence of certain health conditions among LGBT people that calls for the urgent attention of public health researchers and professionals.

The standards on non-discrimination and equality for LGBT persons have been further developed and reinforced by the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe and the United Nations (UN). Sexual orientation and gender identity have increasingly been recognized as grounds of discrimination in European and national legislation. Today, the situation of LGBT persons in the EU is no longer a marginalized issue but a recognized human rights concern.