This brief paper is part of a series of Working Papers, published through McMaster University, on COVID-19 and its impacts on marginalised groups. The paper provides a brief overview of the state of play as of May 2020 in regards to COVID-19 and populations most and least impacted by the pandemic, as well as the rapid changes in information and data that have occurred in the past 4 months. The paper then points to the significant gaps in healthcare infrastructure in Canada whereby sexual and gender minorities are left out. The mental health impacts of COVID-19 and required social distancing, especially on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The paper concludes with a very brief summary of the researchers’ upcoming work to gather and summarise novel data on COVID-19 in 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Queers and pandemics, past, present, and forever: LGBTQ+ health vulnerabilities and public health visibility
Publication Date2020
CountryCanada
This brief article is relevant for practitioners engaged in COVID-19 response and data generation as it provides evidence that data generation is an immediate concern.
"Our Chief Public Health Officer has acknowledged that our public health surveillance infrastructure lacks tools to understand COVID-19’s impact on marginalized communities, including SGMs. Nevertheless, we know from previous research that 2SLGBTQIA+ people are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of social isolation (Meyer et al., 2003; Gonzales et al., 2017)."