Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual and Gender Minority Communities: Focus Group Discussions

Abstract

Background: People who identify as sexual and gender minorities (SGM) experienced disproportionate economic and mental health issues related to COVID-19 when compared to the general population. The purpose of this study was to better understand how COVID-19 has impacted the SGM community and ways to address vaccine hesitancy. Methods: Three focus groups were conducted with 21 members of the SGM community between 5 November and 10 December 2020. A thematic analysis using the reflexive approach was applied to the transcripts of the focus groups. Results: Four themes emerged: (1) Impact of COVID-19 on the Community, (2) Perceptions of Contact Tracing and Testing, (3) Perceptions of a Potential COVID-19 Vaccine, and (4) Decreasing Vaccine Hesitancy. The most relevant subthemes were that social isolation led to anxiety, stress, and fear in the SGM community during COVID-19; resilience and adaptation were positive outcomes of the pandemic; histories of medical racism contributed to hesitancy to get tested; and specific messaging from trusted messengers may be needed to encourage SGM communities to get vaccinated. These findings support other COVID-19 research on the SGM community during the start of the pandemic. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the impact of the early stages of COVID-19 on the SGM community, highlighting the unique hurdles faced by SGM individuals with regard to contact tracing and vaccine hesitancy.

Trusted Sources of Information and COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in a Sample of Latinx Sexual and Gender Minorities in South Florida

“…South Florida organizations such as Latinos Salud, a prominent Latinx SGM nonprofit, and the Florida Department of Health's Miami-Dade County LGBTQ outreach office were instrumental in gaining the community's trust, promoting provaccine messaging, and providing the vaccines themselves. This finding corroborates emerging evidence for the critical importance of SGM-serving organizations in providing social support and health care access to this community during the COVID-19 pandemic 22,23…”

“…This finding corroborates emerging evidence for the critical importance of SGM-serving organizations in providing social support and health care access to this community during the COVID-19 pandemic. 22,23…”

Identifying facilitators and barriers to culturally responsive communication for racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minoritized patients when screened for COVID-19 vaccinations: A scoping review protocol

“…Despite this, U.S. sexual and gender minoritized people reported having significant and disproportionate poor mental health outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic [21][22][23][24][25]. Additionally, sexual and gender minoritized patients reported greater rates of job loss, housing, and food insecurity along with minority stress and stigmatization, all linked to higher levels of mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic [16,[21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Racial and ethnic minoritized communities are at an increased risk of exposure and burden from COVID-19 due to many systemic disadvantages. COVID-19 disproportionally affects historically excluded communities due to a lack of access to healthcare, racism, gender oppression, structural discrimination, medical mistrust, and more [ 15 , 16 ]. Racial and ethnic minoritized patients have about one and a half times greater risk of COVID-19 infection and are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white counterparts when accounting for age differences across racial and ethnic groups [ 17 ].…”

“…Though vaccine uptake by all groups has recently equalized, it is important to understand the influences on initial disproportionate uptake by racial and ethnic minoritized populations. Additionally, sexual and gender minoritized patients faced initial barriers to receiving and accepting COVID-19 vaccinations with many intersecting themes when compared to racial and ethnic minoritized patients [ 16 ]. A persistent barrier for COVID vaccinations among sexual and gender minoritized groups include historical and ongoing medical trauma.…”