LGBT Finally Included In U.S. Health Data

For the first time, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations will be included in the National Health Interview Survey -- one of the key sources used to gauge the health of Americans. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday morning that it will add questions on sexual orientation to the survey by 2013 and begin efforts to collect data on gender identity.

In a statement, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hailed the move as essential to helping policymakers and researchers identify health issues among LGBT populations, for which there is notoriously little data.

"Today we are taking critical steps toward ensuring the useful national data on minority groups, including, for the first time, LGBT populations," Sebelius said. "The data we will eventually collect in these efforts will serve as powerful tools and help us in our fight to end health disparities."

Key players in LGBT health issues have hailed the announcement, among them, UCLA's Williams Institute On Sexual Orientation and Gender and Identity Law, which released a statement praising the move.

"Today's announcement solidifies the commitment ... to provide more and better data about the health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans," Williams Distinguished Scholar Dr. Gary Gates said. He added that the need for more data is "acute."

The National Health Interview Survey has been conducted since 1957 and has been updated every 10 to 15 years. Data collection, however, is continuous through each year.

The Centers for Disease Control, which conducts the survey, says it is the "principal source" of information about the health of Americans.

The new draft announced Wednesday also calls for the collection of more data on race and ethnicity, aimed at better understanding health care and outcomes among Asian, Hispanic and Pacific Islander populations.

"To fully understand and meet the needs of our communities," director of HHS Office Of Minority Health, Dr. Garth Graham, said in a statement, "we must first thoroughly understand who we are serving."

Comments

[TomMartin]

07:21 PM on 06/30/2011

This could lead to more prejudice. They might find out for example that a higher percentage of gays are depressed, and Bible thumpers will say see, they are demon possessed. When the right reason for much of the depression can be prejudice against them, causing them to be unhappy. And this depression might lead to higher rates of alcohol abuse etc.

[BacSi]

04:50 PM on 06/30/2011

"The confidentiality of responses is assured under Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act. The NCHS has many procedures in place to prevent the disclosure of your data to others. Some of these procedures include data encryption, secure data networks, and many other security mechanisms following strict federal mandates. Responses are collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and securely transmitted to NCHS, where the data undergo edits and removal of personal identifiers prior to being collected into public use files. The collected data are used for research and statistical purposes only. When analytic reports are prepared and released by NCHS staff, your answers have been combined with those of many other respondents. No information that could identify any individual is publicly released."

From CDC

[media4me2]

05:30 PM on 06/29/2011

What did Obie say about gay marriage today?
Oh that's right, pass it on to the states so he can vote present on the subject again.

[WhatTheHolyHeck]

03:56 PM on 06/29/2011

All of you who are hollering about how this is intended to segregate LGBT people clearly haven't read the actual survey.

It also includes information about who obtains health care and who doesn't, and why. That includes reasons like cost. When you can't get health coverage through your partner's employer-provided policy because you can't legally marry, that's a HUGE issue, and this survey provides information on just that data.

Reading is your friend.

[ESJ247]

03:17 PM on 06/29/2011

The government loves taking our tax money, and now they care about our health issues. But we're still second class citizens.

[arimoore]

06:02 PM on 06/29/2011

True that.

[ramal]

02:50 PM on 06/29/2011

We are at last on 75% equal footing with the rest of America's citizens.

[anytimecowboy]

02:22 PM on 06/29/2011

They finally recognize that I exist...WOW.

[neighborhoodmole]

02:05 PM on 06/29/2011

What if a future conservative administration uses this data to identify and round up everyone it thinks is gay and send them to death camps? Many will will not participate in such surveys for fear of being outed.

[jcarterla]

02:46 PM on 06/29/2011

Are they run by FEMA? Besides, only lesbians like camping.

[chaya]

04:23 PM on 06/29/2011

Fanned. Where have you been all my life?

[media4me2]

05:31 PM on 06/29/2011

And softball.

[TryToBeFlexible]

04:06 PM on 06/29/2011

Puh_leeeze. Conservatives can see we are gay, just by looking at us, and already are tormenting, firing, beating up, and bullying us to death. Staying in the closet never did us any good.

[FabulousTahoe]

02:02 PM on 06/29/2011

The information will prove highly usefull in public health planning. We have our own health issues (besides HIV) and good statistics draw attention to real problems.

[ChallengingThe Narrative]

02:26 PM on 06/29/2011

I don't see what telling them you are homosexual would do that telling them you are sexually active in any capacity wouldn't

Infact it just confuses the issue. Homosexuals are not more prone to disease. People who are sexually active are

I suppose telling the doctor you are transgender might have some psychological implications. But I don't think that's the kind of attention they want from the government

[SomewhereInLeftField]

02:33 PM on 06/29/2011

It's all about knowing how to tailor information campaigns to a specific, target audience.

To use a completely unrealistic example (since this disease has been pretty much eradicated in the US), say that rates of polio in the gay community were substantially higher than in other groups. That can serve as a sign to DHHS and other health organizations that knowledge of polio vaccine protocols aren't reaching the gay community. So they can then tailor information delivery plans to reach that target audience (billboards in gay areas, advertisements in gay publications, etc.).

I know polio is a bad example (mandatory vaccinations and all), but the principle is the same.

[TryToBeFlexible]

04:07 PM on 06/29/2011

Uh, I guess, just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean the scientists can't see benefits from it.

[compajuan049]

01:56 PM on 06/29/2011

Just as we realize that we all belong to the human species (I do not need to tell even the most conservative of posters that there is no evidence of so called "incompatibility" among human beings)

[LintLass]

02:03 PM on 06/29/2011

It seems to me that conservatives are trying to invent some notion it's 'creating' a distinction to admit that one exists and study, among other things, the real health effects of how we're *treated* differently.

[nirek]

01:32 PM on 06/29/2011

I have come to think that the LGBT group which I support is actually a very large group of people.
It is about time they get civil rights, too!

[RCLGuard]

01:31 PM on 06/29/2011

This President has done more for the LGBT community than any of the 43 others. He's got my vote locked.

[runtexas]

01:43 PM on 06/29/2011

yep - can't wait for mandatory hiv screening

finally some civil rights - regardless of reduced freedoms

[Cacey]

01:48 PM on 06/29/2011

I realize that Texas has and will continue to force invasive medical procedures on its citizens but that is not ture in other parts of the nation. And when a woman is forced to have an invasive sonagram, don't dare talk about reduced freedoms.

[chaya]

04:25 PM on 06/29/2011

Fanned.

[LintLass]

01:56 PM on 06/29/2011

Probably when there's universal human rights, the Religious Right'll want to claim we aren't human atall...

[jcarterla]

02:48 PM on 06/29/2011

When we get super powers.

[fariqabdulaziz]

01:24 PM on 06/29/2011

i hope this will contribute to increased understanding and awareness of issues, as a trans person i want more options for "sex" on the US census form as well, i feel like a liar choosing either "M or F"

[cdhj12000]

01:22 PM on 06/29/2011

Looking forward to seeing the results of this collection of data and how it affects those who do and don't support the LGBT community. I think a lot of confusion will be cleared, but likely more confusion will take its place.

[pickle541]

01:26 PM on 06/29/2011

Hopefully more understanding of LGBT and directed health care practices.