COVID-19, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and Public Policy

Wallace Swan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781000773224
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated long-standing inequities, both in the United States and throughout the world. As studies emerge to help us understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on every facet of modern life, it is critical that the effect of the pandemic on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexual, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities not be overlooked. While some pioneering studies analyzing the impacts of the pandemic upon LGBTQIA+ communities have been conducted, and some efforts are being made to collect data which can impact the development of policy, reliable data resources are limited to a few enterprising states, and this data has not been systematically shared with public policy-makers or with the public to date. COVID-19, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and Public Policy explores precisely how the pandemic has affected these communities and what concrete steps need to be taken to ameliorate its effects.

As the chapters in this book demonstrate, the unusual nature of the pandemic has significantly impacted state and local LGBTQIA+ infrastructure, leading to closure of some institutions and reductions in functioning for many others. The contributors examine the ways the pandemic has highlighted preexisting challenges on accessing adequate healthcare (including mental healthcare and substance abuse treatment), employment, education, secure housing, and other societal resources. Together, these chapters present a state-of-the-field overview of health disparities in the LGBTQIA+ community, and demonstrate the particular need for serious, timely, public policy interventions.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Endorsements Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Contributor Biographies
• 1 An International Pandemic, Misinformation, and Policy Harms
• 2 The Policy Process
• 3 The Civic Culture Reconfigured
• 4 LGBTQIA Issues Facing the New Administration: Employment, Medical Care, Personal Finances, and Hunger
• 5 Impacts of the Pandemic on the Most Vulnerable Subsectors of the LGBTQ Community
• 6 Jobs for the LGBTQ Community
• 7 Immigration, COVID-19, and the LGBTQIA Community
• 8 LGBTQ+ Mental Health and COVID-19
• 9 COVID-19 and the Impact on LGBT Disabled Americans
• 10 Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the LGBTQ Prison Population
• 11 COVID-19 and Substance Use among LGBTQ+ People
• 12 American and Canadian Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTQIA Businesses
• 13 The Pandemic's Impact on LGBTQIA+ Centers and Service Organizations
• 14 The LGBTQIA Community Effort to Define SOGI: A State-by-State Summary of Data Collection
• 15 From SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Data Collection to Vaccine Promotion: The Journey of LGBTQ+ Health Activism during COVID-19
• 16 The Minnesota Experience
• 17 Utilizing State-Level Risk Factor Data to Analyze COVID-19 Risk and Impact among LGBTQI+ Pennsylvanians
• 18 Impacts of the Pandemic on African American, Latino, Asian American/Pacific Islander LGBTQ Populations
• 19 Arm in Arm: LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Vaccine Equity and Coalition-Building
• 20 Representative Bureaucracy as a Tool for Addressing LGBTQ Inequities Highlighted by the Pandemic
• 21 Public Health Care Policy Needs More Than a Vaccine
• 22 Reclaiming our Time: From Discrimination to Dignity
• Epilogue: A Fault Line in American Public Health: From AIDS to COVID-19, to Monkeypox
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: LGBTQ Youth/Adults and Homelessness in the Time of COVID-19
• Appendix 2: Effects of COVID-19 on Twin Cities LGBTQIA+ Businesses
• Appendix 3: LGBTQ Non-Profit Sustainability during COVID-19 (Webinar)
• Appendix 4: Wallace Swan and Associates: Accurate Info for Government Policy
• Appendix 5: State and Territory Questionnaire Letter
• Appendix 6: Tabulation of Questionnaire Responses
• Appendix 7: Racial, Ethnic, and SOGI Section of Oregon COVID-19 Data Form