Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation along with NorthEast Two-Spirit released the findings of a first-ever statewide assessment of LGBT health and human services needs. The assessment was undertaken by Somjen Frazer Consulting to identify gaps and disparities in how the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community accesses health and human services. For a copy of this report, click here or click on the above image.

Among issues identified as problems for LGBT New Yorkers are healthcare access, homelessness, hate violence and social isolation. The needs assessment also showed how particular groups within the LGBT community—transgender people, people of color, youth and seniors—are particularly affected in adverse ways.

“Never before has any data-based study been done that looks broadly at New York State’s LGBT community and what health and human services problems are unique to being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” said Ross Levi, Director of Public Policy & Education for the Empire State Pride Agenda. “This report shows how some of our community’s most pressing health needs are going unaddressed and will be a tremendous help to advocates and service-providers in getting government officials and funders to provide policies and resources to address these needs with efficient, on-the-ground programs and services.”Somjen Frazer, the report’s author and a Brooklyn-based researcher with expertise in LGBT issues, said, “This report shows that LGBT people continue to experience health disparities and gaps in key social services. It is also clear that while this needs assessment is an important step in the right direction, there needs to be more data collection on LGBT issues, including data collected by the state itself.”Findings show that:

• For something as fundamental as receiving basic health care, 27% of LGBT New Yorkers fear that if medical personnel found out that they are LGBT that they would be treated differently, 40% say there are not enough health professionals who are adequately trained and competent to deliver healthcare to LGBT people, and LGB people lack health insurance at rates higher than heterosexual people (20.6% for lesbian and gay and 23.5% for bisexual versus only 14.9% for heterosexual people).
• 14% of LGBT people, and one-third of transgender New Yorkers, are or have been homeless at one time.
• 13% of LGBT New Yorkers have been victims of a homophobic or transphobic sexual or physical assault severe enough to require medical care. The rate is even higher for people of color: 19% for Black New Yorkers and 20% for Latino.
• Social isolation is a significant problem for LGBT people, with two-thirds of rural LGBT residents saying they feel isolated from others, and over half of LGBT seniors saying they sometimes or always lack companionship.

While more formal recommendations from the data gathered from this needs assessment will be forthcoming, areas for focus are already apparent, and include:

• The need for training in cultural competence for clinicians and other service providers so that they can provide health and human services in a more accessible way to LGBT people.
• Expanding access and removing barriers to affordable healthcare, including insurance coverage for domestic partners and same-sex spouses.
• An increased value placed on social programs provided by LGBT community-based organizations that are vital for combating the social isolation that leads directly to negative health outcomes for LGBT people. 
• Solutions for overcoming challenges around travel and the sparseness of LGBT services throughout New York State, especially for youth of all races and youth and adults of color in non-urban areas.

The needs assessment was funded by the New York State Department of Health, and was comprised of analysis of existing state and local data sources, interviews and focus groups with 60 experts in LGBT health and human services from across New York State and nearly 3,500 online and paper surveys taken by LGBT New Yorkers on their health and human service needs. The assessment was conducted in close collaboration with the New York State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health and Human Services Network, a coalition of over fifty LGBT-specific and LGBT-supportive nonprofit groups and organizations that provide non-HIV health and social services to LGBT New Yorkers and their families that is supported and administered by the Pride Agenda. A complete copy of the report is available online in PDF format on the Pride Agenda’s website.