LGBTQ POC More Likely to Test Positive for COVID-19, Report Finds

LGBTQ people of color are twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 as white non-LGBTQ people, according to a new report from the Williams Institute.

According to the Williams Institute’s findings, 15 percent of LGBTQ people of color tested positive for COVID-19, compared to 7 percent of non-LGBTQ white adults. Furthermore, LGBTQ people of color were over 50 percent more likely than white non-LGBTQ people to have personally known someone who died of COVID-19: 32 percent vs. 19.8 percent.

LGBTQ people of color are also more likely to experience harsher economic impact of the pandemic: 29 percent of LGBTQ people of color reported problems affording basic household goods, compared to 14 percent of non-LGBTQ white respondents. 26 percent of LGBTQ people of color reported having trouble paying their rent, almost three times the rate of straight white respondents (9 percent).

LGBTQ respondents of color are almost three times more likely to have been laid off recently due to the pandemic.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQ people cannot be fully understood without considering race and ethnicity as well as sexual orientation and gender identity,” the report concludes. “[…]The impact of the pandemic on LGBTQ people—and LGBTQ people of color specifically—must be taken into account as the federal government seeks to restore trust in institutions responding to the public health crisis and to provide support to those most economically affected by COVID-19.”

These findings draw upon data collected by Ipsos from a nationally representative sample of over 12,000 adults between August 21, 2020 and December 21, 2020.