California Will Now Collect LGBTQ Coronavirus Data

Advocates had been pushing for the state to collect such data for months, arguing that specific solutions tailored to LGBTQ people are left out of the state’s response because health officials don’t know how the coronavirus is impacting the community in the first place.

LGBTQ people are at particular risk of contracting the coronavirus because the community has higher rates of smoking, homelessness and increased prevalence of HIV and cancer, according to Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. 

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California’s Department of Health, said in a press conference Tuesday the state will “use this data to effectively see how our interventions are working and what more we need to do in California not just to address the COVID-19 situation, but also to close disparities.”

California will also begin to collect sexual orientation and gender identity data for all reported communicable diseases, responding to a first-in-nation bill introduced in May by State Senator Scott Weiner.

Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. are the only other areas collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data for the coronavirus, but that data isn’t available on either of their coronavirus dashboards (Neither Pennsylvania nor the D.C. health officials immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes asking when or if that data will be released publicly).