Recap: LGBTQ People in Massachusetts

As he welcomed the in-person and online audience to the May 13 report release at the Boston Foundation, Equality Fund Executive Director Scott Knox gave a nod to the several elected officials in the room and provided a brief background on the Equality Fund—now in its 13th year of supporting Greater Boston nonprofit organizations that serve and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community. “With less than 25 cents of every 100 philanthropic dollars going to LGBTQ+ issues,” he noted, “community-based research is part of the Equality Fund’s work toward equity, helping to amplify visible and invisible needs.” The report released is a demographic overview of the Commonwealth’s LGBTQ+ community, emphasizing physical and mental health, and social determinants of health. Before inviting the lead researcher to present findings, Knox turned the mic over to Jordina Shanks, CEO of Fenway Health, TBF’s partner on the report.

Acknowledging the difficulty of this sociopolitical moment, Shanks explained her organization’s role as a community health center serving more than 32,000 patients each year, driven by the conviction that health care is a right, not a privilege. It also houses an nationally renowned research center, the Fenway Institute, whose work is vital to the organization’s success because, Shanks quoted a former Fenway Health CEO, “If you are not counted, you don’t count.”

Shanks introduced Fenway Institute Director of Health Policy Research Sean Cahill to share topline findings of the report, titled LGBTQ+ People in Massachusetts: Strengths, Challenges and Opportunities in a Diverse Community. The study pulled data from several surveys administered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control, and several focus groups in different parts of the state, including with youth and older adult groups. It addressed questions about the size, diversity, and growth trends of the sexual and gender minority population, as well as general experiences, thoughts about what should be funded, and areas of strength.

The research team found the LGBTQ+ community in Massachusetts is large and growing, making up around 9 percent of the adult population, and generally reflecting the same racial and ethnic breakdown as the overall population. While Suffolk County (which includes Boston) has one of the highest percentages of LGBTQ+ population at 10 percent, and the Cape has similar pockets, the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts tops the list, with 11–14 percent of people identifying as LGBTQ+. The LGBTQ+ community is also young: nearly one-in-four adults 18-24 identify as LGBTQ+ in the state, versus less than 4 percent of adults over 65.

Health outcomes are troubling, however, with LGBTQ+ people 1.6 times as likely as their non-LGBTQ+ peers to report poor or fair health; 1.8 times more likely to skip doctor visits for financial reasons; more likely to smoke or drink heavily, be told they have a depressive disorder, or have considered suicide. Listening session respondents said they face challenges in accessing appropriate health care, especially for those who live away from the urban core, are elderly, disabled, HIV positive, or not White. Social isolation and threatening atmospheres add mental health strains. Serious challenges, but all is not gloom: Respondents cited the Commonwealth’s overall supportive laws and policies, congressional delegation, and state and local leaders who are female, LGBTQ+, and people of color. The recent opening of The Pryde, an affordable and LGBTQ+-affirming housing development, was also cause for hope.

Cahill was joined on stage by an impressive panel, moderated by the Equality Fund’s Knox, to try to put the research and the current moment in context. First up, Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies at GLAD Law, was determined to see the glass half-full. She recalled a recent interview with Barack Obama in which he reminded interviewer Hasan Minhaj that the trajectory over time has been slow growing acceptance of people. “Ask your grandparents if things are better for them,” he’d said. “And it’s true,” Bonauto went on. “In the 1950s, suspected gay people couldn’t get security clearance, and thousands lost jobs. When I was born, in 1961, there were censorship codes on story lines; there were sodomy laws in every state…. Our communities have done an incredibly creative job to fight forward. Even when we were overwhelmed. Like during the AIDS crisis, when government indifference was unforgiveable. Thinking of all this gives me hope as we face the current attacks on trans people, immigrants, and other marginalized people.”