Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Todd Gloria, Chair and Vice-Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus respectively, sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom asking the state to begin collecting data regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ community.
LGBTQ individuals are at significant risk of negative health and economic impacts from the novel coronavirus, and the state and counties need accurate and comprehensive data to understand the extent of these impacts.
“Right now, the LGBTQ community is incredibly vulnerable to both the health and economic impacts of coronavirus. Many LGBTQ individuals work in sectors that are deeply impacted by COVID-19, and LGBTQ individuals are more likely to be immunocompromised due to HIV/AIDS and other health issues. And LGBTQ youth are more likely to experience homelessness,” Wiener said. “We need to collect data on how COVID-19 is impacting the LGBTQ community, or we won’t be able to get the support we need. We are asking Governor Newsom to ensure the state and California counties are collecting relevant data to make sure we can understand
the breadth of the impacts COVID-19 will have on our community, so we can allocate appropriate public health and economic resources.”
Assemblymember Todd Gloria added:
“Data collection allows us to answer pertinent questions and evaluate outcomes. It is more important than ever that data is gathered on all communities, including sexual orientation and gender identity, race, disability status and more. The more data that can be collected will only better help resources be appropriated to communities with the greatest needs.”
