COVID 19 - LGBTQ Information and resources

What utter drivel. It's this commentary that does more damage to the gay rights movement than most other things.

Such a pity, you can only play the victim where you are being victimised, otherwise it's regressive.

Obviously, if you’re an LGBTQI individual who smokes, goes clubbing a lot and has lots of casual sex with a variety of partners, the CV19 risk factors for you are that you smoke, go clubbing a lot and have lots of casual sex with a variety of partners. That you’re LGBTQI? Not so much a risk factor.

But, two things:

First, if - and, I cannot stress this enough, I really mean if - it’s true that the LGBTQI community has an above-average proportion of people in it who smoke, go clubbing, etc, then it’s going to be more adversely impacted as a community by CV19. If a large part of your social/personal connections are with/through this community, then it’s likely that a higher proportion of your friends and connections are going to be adversely affected by CV19. You’re going to notice this both in terms of the number of people you know who are adversely affected, and in terms of the general disruption to your social life and friendship circle, the scaling down or cancellation of common social activities, etc. This is going to happen for everybody, but it’s likely to happen to a somewhat greater degree for people whose social connections are oriented to the LGBTQI community.

Secondly, if (and, again, note the “if”) you’re a non-smoker who likes the quiet life and the occasional cup of tea curled up with a good book, but many of the people you regularly meet smoke, go clubbing, etc, then yeah, you are at increased risk of catching CV19 from your friendship group. Because of the highly contagious nature of this disease, someone who engages in higher-risk behaviours increases the risk not only for himself but also for his family, neighbourhood, social and work connections. We cannot say that this is a matter of personal choice that affects no-one else; it has significant implications for others. You can protect yourself against this, to a large extent, by self-isolating, but few of us are in a position to completely self-isolate for very long and, to the extent that we do have contact with others, we are reliant on them to have taken the steps they can to minimise the chance of infection.

This goes not mean that LGBTQI people are “dangerous” or “high-risk”. There is no reason to think that LGBTQI people are less likely than others to take proper steps to minimise the danger to themselves and others of CV19 infection. It may mean that taking those steps will be more disruptive, more unsettling for them but, frankly, it is going to be pretty disruptive and unsettling for everyone.

Peregrinus wrote: »

Obviously, if you’re an LGBTQI individual who smokes, goes clubbing a lot and has lots of casual sex with a variety of partners, the CV19 risk factors for you are that you smoke, go clubbing a lot and have lots of casual sex with a variety of partners. That you’re LGBTQI? Not so much a risk factor.

In my experience gay men (and I know that's just a section of lgbt+ but a significant proportion) are healthier than the average hetro proportionality i.e. go to the gym, work out, especially older gays who are not married and tied down with kids who have the time and money to look after themselves as they get older, and wish to preserve their looks : )

The demographic that is most unhealthily are the lower working classes. We all know that to true, where obesity levels and smoking % is at it's highest in the populace. Therefore it might be a valid argument to say that the lower working classes are disproportionately more at risk and not the LGBT+ community and thus LGBT don't deserve to be singled out as some especially vulnerable group.

I'm not sure about how promiscuity plays into this so I'll leave that out, but the OP didn't say it was a reason for special status of 'vulnerability'.

Looking at what has been going on in London with instructions being ignored in respect of social gatherings, I can't think that 'gay' clubbing poses any more of a threat than it does for hetros, so again that's another special status claim I think is invalid.

But to get back to the virus itself, I feel that the ppl who are most vulnerable are ppl who are not just suffering from some underlying conditions but who are physically weak in general. Whether that's a result of come condition or years of physical inactivity where one's body doesn't have the stamina to handle something new where there is no vaccine. That could be anybody, no matter how rich or poor, what one's sexuality is, or any other social characteristic.

3. LGBTQ+ people continue to experience discrimination, unwelcoming attitudes, and lack of understanding from providers and staff in many health care settings, and as a result, many are reluctant to seek medical care except in situations that feel urgent – and perhaps not even then.

The thing that most annoys me about this is the above which is parroted verbatim in many of the links in the OP.

The idea that LGBT would not turn up to be tested for fears of discrimination in Western counties is not only completely unbelievable but an utter insult to the medical staff who have gone out of their way, round the clock, putting themselves at threat, some coming out of retirement to help in this time of solitary and increased need.

Deleted User wrote: »

This is civil discussion and I would like any person in the LGBT community to tell me why there is a need for any thread discussing how a global pandemic would affect anyone differently or particularly because of their sexual preference.

Because we are a community and we do have particular and distinct needs and resources, and as a community we try to support each other.

I don't see why this needs to be an us vs them situation. I've seen support and resources threads for covid-19 in many regional forums. I'd expect if I went looking I would find them in other community or social-group forums too. If they're relevent to you, you may find them useful. If they're not, then why are you even here?

JCX BXC wrote: »

Because plenty of LGBTQI+ people are here and find it completely abhorrent. Creating divisions is what the OP does, an Us Vs Them situation is what the OP even vaguely suggests, it's like having a thread on how COVID-19 could/can affect coeliacs!

I always find it so ironic and infact mentally defeating, that often those who shout loudest about equality in society are most intent on creating these divisions.

We need a unified approach, not more of this how can it effect me more than a member of 'xxx' group.

We are not different, we are the same here, so why create divisions where there is no need for such?

What divisions? The OP is a list of links and resources which this community might find useful. I’m absolutely failing to see the problem.

There are Covid-19 threads for parents, athletes, people from Donegal, there’s one on the Chess forum for crying out loud.

Why don’t you go and shout at the chess community for creating division?

Goodshape wrote: »

but instead it's a bitch and moan and accusations that LGBT+ people are "playing the victim card" or some nonsense.

You realise that a fair whack of the replies are likely from LGBT+ people?

If you're referring to my comment, I never said LGBT+ people were playing the victim card, I alluded to the fact that threads like this come across as so.

I fail to see how Covid-19 is going to affect the LGBT+ community any differently than the rest of society. Covid-19 does not distinguish between different people regardless of colour, creed or sexuality. We are all susceptible to it if exposed to it. it will affect everyone and every group in society. Some people will be at a higher risk due to their jobs or may have inadvertently come into contact with someone who already had the virus before the current restrictions were put in place. Unfortunately it will continue to affect all our lives for the foreseeable future.

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Again. It's just some links and information. Nothing else.

+1 to this.

Lets just hold our horses people, we have a bit of information going around, which isn't a bad thing, and particularly not when our community has taken a long to build up good traditions of keeping informed and educated about health issues. And shock horror - I saw some of the same information at my workplace - my reaction was 'huh OK interesting' not 'do they not realize this infection hits everyone and not just us widget jockeys'.