Executive Summary
More than 11.3 million LGBT adults live in the U.S. They are a part of every community throughout the country, and they are diverse in terms of personal characteristics, socioeconomic outcomes, health status, and lived experiences. While LGBT people are similar to their non-LGBT counterparts in many ways, they also show differences that illuminate their unique needs and experiences related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
About 60% of LGBT adults identify as White. In this report, we analyze data from several sources to provide information about adults who self-identify as White and LGBT. We present an overview of their demographic characteristics and focus on several key domains of well-being, including mental health, physical health, economic health, and social and cultural experiences. In addition, we compare White LGBT and non-LGBT adults across these indicators in order to explore differences related to sexual orientation and gender identity among White Americans. For several key indicators, we also compare White LGBT and non-LGBT women with White LGBT and non-LGBT men in order to explore differences related to gender.
This report is part of a larger series, LGBT Well-Being at the Intersection of Race, which provides the same information for each racial/ethnic minority group in the United States. A final comparative report examines differences across racial groups among LGBT people.
Key Findings
Demographic characteristics
- Almost 6 million LGBT U.S. adults self-identify as White and LGBT. Among all White adults, 3.7% identify as LGBT.
- Among White LGBT adults, 24% live in the West, 31% in the South, 21% in the Northeast, and 23% in the Midwest.
Note: * indicates that estimates between LGBT and non-LGBT adults are statistically different.
Note: * indicates that estimates between LGBT and non-LGBT adults are statistically different.
Mental and physical health
- More White LGBT adults reported fair or poor health than White non-LGBT adults: 22% of White LGBT adults and 17% of White non-LGBT adults report their health as fair or poor.
- More than one-third (37%) of White LGBT adults have been diagnosed with depression, compared to 18% of White non-LGBT adults. White LGBT women have the highest rates of depression (44%), compared with White non-LGBT women (22%) and both groups of men.
Note: * indicates that estimates between LGBT and non-LGBT adults are statistically different.
- White LGBT adults are more likely to engage in high-risk health behaviors than White non-LGBT adults. Among White LGBT adults, 27% report current smoking and 9% report heavy drinking, compared to 18% and 7% of non-LGBT adults, respectively.
- More White LGBT adults than non-LGBT adults report having mild or high disability, defined by the number of days that they experienced limitations due to poor health in the prior month. Among White adults, 28% reported experiencing mild disability, defined as experiencing limitations because of poor health for 1-14 days in the past month; 12% reported high disability, defined as experiencing limitations because of poor health for 15-30 days in the past month. By comparison, 20% of White non-LGBT adults reported mild disability, and 10% reported high disability.
- Compared to White non-LGBT adults, White LGBT adults had greater odds of being diagnosed with several serious health conditions, including asthma, diabetes, heart attack, cancer, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. These disparities exist for both White LGBT men and women compared to non-LGBT men and women, with the exception of cancer for White women.
Access to health care
- White LGBT adults are less likely to have health insurance than White non-LGBT adults: 13% of White LGBT adults are uninsured, compared to 9% of White non-LGBT adults. White LGBT women are twice as likely to be uninsured as White non-LGBT women (14% vs. 7%).
- White LGBT adults are more likely to have Medicaid as their primary insurance compared to White non-LGBT adults (8% vs. 4%).
- White LGBT parents are more likely to be enrolled in Medicaid than White non-LGBT parents: Among adults raising children, 14% of White LGBT adults are enrolled in Medicaid, compared to 6% of White non-LGBT adults. Medicaid enrollment is particularly high among women raising children: 16% of White LGBT women and 9% of White non-LGBT women raising children are enrolled in Medicaid, compared to 6% of White LGBT men raising children and 3% of White non-LGBT men raising children.
- White LGBT women are less likely to have a personal doctor than White non-LGBT women (78% vs. 89%). The same proportion of White LGBT and non-LGBT men have a personal doctor (79%).
Discrimination and stressful events
- White LGBT adults are more likely than White non-LGBT adults to say they feel unsafe: 14% of White LGBT adults said that they disagreed with the statement “You always feel safe and secure,” compared to 8% of White non-LGBT adults.
- Many White LGBT adults reported experiences of discrimination and victimization. For example, 68% of White LGBT adults reported having experienced everyday discrimination in the prior year (such as being treated with less courtesy than other people), 42% reported experiencing physical or sexual assault at some point as an adult, and 77% reported experiencing verbal assault or abuse at some point as an adult. Similar percentages of White non-LGBT adults report experiencing discrimination and violence.
- Many White LGBT adults also reported financial and job-related stress. For example, 54% reported not having had enough money to make ends meet in the prior year, 11% reported being fired or laid off in the prior year, and 26% reported experiencing a major financial crisis in the prior year. Overall, White non-LGBT adults reported similar rates of financial and job-related stress.
Resiliency
- About half (51%) of White LGB adults and 33% of White transgender adults reported feeling connected to the LGBT community.• Fewer White LGBT adults (11%) reported feeling connected to their racial or ethnic group compared to White non-LGBT adults (21%).
- About 60% of White LGBT adults reported feeling supported through their social circles.
In addition to presenting national data, we compared White LGBT and non-LGBT adults on several key outcomes by region in the U.S.: West, Northeast, South, and the Midwest. Overall, patterns identified within each region reflect what we found across the U.S. Full details on the regional analyses can be found on page 30 of this report.
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