Hidden Figures is a report by LGBT Foundation which presents an assessment of the many health inequalities faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities.
Health inequalities arise at different stages of people’s lives, and LGBT people often experience specific further discrimination and marginalisation when accessing services to address these health inequalities. This report uses a life course ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach to highlight the importance of these stages and their cumulative impact on health and wellbeing. It also attempts to showcase the unique inequalities faced by LGBT people throughout the entirety of their lives.
The report marks the largest and most substantive look at the health inequalities faced by LGBT people across their lives, bringing together research and insights from a wide array of organisations and public sector bodies. It draws from relevant research, papers, surveys, and NHS and Government data and statistics. It also contains a range of data on LGBT Foundation’s services and insights from LGBT Foundation service users. These have been gathered through analysis of the wide range of community services offered by LGBT Foundation such as our Substance Misuse programme, Domestic Abuse programme and Talking Therapies programme.
Key findings included in the report include higher rates of homelessness, domestic abuse and sexual violence experienced by people from LGBT communities. It further demonstrates generally poorer health outcomes, with lower rates of physical activity and a substantially higher instances of mental health issues and drug/alcohol dependency. Overall, the report highlights how multiple health inequalities across a lifespan can impact sequentially and can lead to significantly worse health outcomes.
Read the full report