What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on LGBTQ+ communities in the UK and what actions could help address these?
Personal accounts suggest that the LGBTQ+ communities in Wales had more negative experiences as a result of COVID-19 than the wider population. It is vital to understand these impacts in order to identify and prioritise actions to reduce the current and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (and potential future pandemics) on LGBTQ+ communities living in Wales
We therefore looked for evidence to show what the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic and restrictions have been on LGBTQ+ communities in the UK in the areas of education, work, living standards, health, justice and participation.
There was little evidence available and most of what we found came from studies and reports of advocacy organisations and not from published scientific research. It was not always possible to see how people were recruited to the studies undertaken or how representative the views and experiences of those taking part were.
The evidence found mainly related to health and was limited to the early impact of the pandemic. No studies were identified that collected data later than April 2021. We found no indication of the current or long term impacts. Overall the evidence showed poor outcomes, or worse outcomes for the LGBTQ+ populations compared with similar populations before the pandemic, or compared with the general population across mental health and well-being, health behaviours, safety, loneliness, and access to routine healthcare
The organisations who produced many of the studies have insight into the struggles that LGBTQ+ communities face. Many of their publications provided recommendations for policymakers and practitioners. These recommendations arose either from the identification of issues that were made worse by the pandemic or arising as a direct result of the pandemic and need to be considered in preparing for any future crisis.
Despite the lack of clear formal processes adopted, it was agreed that reviewing these recommendations from stakeholders and any evaluations of interventions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic would be useful to inform the LGBTQ+ Action Plan for Wales. These could then be considered by a wider group of stakeholders.
Our search was limited by the fact at the time of publication, there were no funded studies investigating the impact of the pandemic on LGBTQ+ populations and there is a lack of routinely collected sexual orientation and gender identity data. Studies highlight the necessity for crisis response strategies that encompass LGBTQ+ needs and that recognise diversity within minority communities.
Research funding is needed to understand more about how to address poor outcomes for LGBTQ+ communities, both in the current context and in preparedness for future crises, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to support LGBTQ+ communities.
REM00029