FIRST STUDY IN AUSTRIA
LGBTQI+ people feel sicker than average
Only 60 percent think they are in good health - compared to 74 percent in the general population. This has to do with "minority stress," said Minister Rauch
Irene Brickner
June 7, 2023, 16:24
It's a first for Austria. The health status of LGBTQI+ people, or, as Conny Felice of Hosi Salzburg said at the press conference, "queer" fellow citizens, has not specifically interested previous governments here, unlike official bodies in 14 other European countries. This is now different, emphasized Minister Johannes Rauch (Green Party) at the presentation of the "LGBTQI+ Health Report 2022" on Wednesday at the Villa Vida Café in Vienna. "The burdens of LGBTQI+ persons are manifold. They range from violence in childhood to so-called minority stress. Those who feel discriminated against in the healthcare system, for example, are less likely to go to the doctor," Rauch said.
The report is dedicated to the specific health problems of homosexual, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Austria. There are many of them, although there are no surveys on the concrete numbers. International experts assume five to ten percent of the population. In this country, that means 450,000 and 900,000 people - who, as the report by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs shows, are far worse off than the population as a whole.
Queer teens particularly burdened
Specifically, only 60 percent of the 1047 respondents surveyed online last year said their health was very good or good; a representative sample was not possible due to not knowing the population. In the general population, 74 percent gave themselves such a positive report card, according to the representative 2019 ATHIS survey used for comparison. Eleven percent of queer respondents characterized their condition as poor and very poor. According to the ATHIS study, six percent in the general population said the same.
LGBTQI+ people ages 15 to 19 described their health as particularly negative. Only one-third (33 percent) said it was very good or good. Across all age groups, about one-third of queer respondents said they had suffered from a chronic condition such as allergies, chronic back pain, asthma, diabetes or cancer in the year before the study.
Twenty-two percent of all LGBTQI+ respondents described themselves as permanently physically or mentally ill. Intersex people - individuals who exhibit variations in physical gender development - were particularly shown to be burdened in this regard. 42 percent answered yes to the question in this regard.
Half of respondents avoid seeing a doctor
In order to better support the queer community in view of this, changes in the health care system are needed, said Sylvia Gaiswinkler of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH at the study presentation. The fact that half of the respondents said they had avoided treatment because of negative experiences in outpatient clinics, hospitals or with the medical profession showed this, she said. Health care personnel need information to rule out discriminatory treatment of LGBTQI+ persons.
For example, as Minister Rauch said, "Paul, a trans man, has a toothache but was called into the treatment room as 'Mrs. Huber' at his last dental appointment. He keeps treatment pending until it can't be done anymore and he needs emergency surgery." To prevent such things from happening in the future, the Ministry of Health has produced an information brochure for healthcare workers. Title: Welcoming Diversity"
Controversial diversity - even in study presentations
Today, this claim faces hurdles in many cases, Rauch said. "We live in a time where there are steps backward," he said, recalling the protests against a drag queen reading to children at the café where the study was presented. As if to redeem those words, the very first statement in the Q&A session after the presentation turned against gendering.
In Germany, 700 linguists had asked the public broadcasters to drop gendering, explained the questioner, a journalist. How does he, Rauch, want to keep it now? He would stick with it anyway, the minister replied: "As an expression of diversity." (Irene Brickner, 7.6.2023)
S | A
Irene Brickner
June 7, 2023, 16:24
It's a first for Austria. The health status of LGBTQI+ people, or, as Conny Felice of Hosi Salzburg said at the press conference, "queer" fellow citizens, has not specifically interested previous governments here, unlike official bodies in 14 other European countries. This is now different, emphasized Minister Johannes Rauch (Green Party) at the presentation of the "LGBTQI+ Health Report 2022" on Wednesday at the Villa Vida Café in Vienna. "The burdens of LGBTQI+ persons are manifold. They range from violence in childhood to so-called minority stress. Those who feel discriminated against in the healthcare system, for example, are less likely to go to the doctor," Rauch said.
The report is dedicated to the specific health problems of homosexual, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Austria. There are many of them, although there are no surveys on the concrete numbers. International experts assume five to ten percent of the population. In this country, that means 450,000 and 900,000 people - who, as the report by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs shows, are far worse off than the population as a whole.
Queer teens particularly burdened
Specifically, only 60 percent of the 1047 respondents surveyed online last year said their health was very good or good; a representative sample was not possible due to not knowing the population. In the general population, 74 percent gave themselves such a positive report card, according to the representative 2019 ATHIS survey used for comparison. Eleven percent of queer respondents characterized their condition as poor and very poor. According to the ATHIS study, six percent in the general population said the same.
LGBTQI+ people ages 15 to 19 described their health as particularly negative. Only one-third (33 percent) said it was very good or good. Across all age groups, about one-third of queer respondents said they had suffered from a chronic condition such as allergies, chronic back pain, asthma, diabetes or cancer in the year before the study.
Twenty-two percent of all LGBTQI+ respondents described themselves as permanently physically or mentally ill. Intersex people - individuals who exhibit variations in physical gender development - were particularly shown to be burdened in this regard. 42 percent answered yes to the question in this regard.
Half of respondents avoid seeing a doctor
In order to better support the queer community in view of this, changes in the health care system are needed, said Sylvia Gaiswinkler of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH at the study presentation. The fact that half of the respondents said they had avoided treatment because of negative experiences in outpatient clinics, hospitals or with the medical profession showed this, she said. Health care personnel need information to rule out discriminatory treatment of LGBTQI+ persons.
For example, as Minister Rauch said, "Paul, a trans man, has a toothache but was called into the treatment room as 'Mrs. Huber' at his last dental appointment. He keeps treatment pending until it can't be done anymore and he needs emergency surgery." To prevent such things from happening in the future, the Ministry of Health has produced an information brochure for healthcare workers. Title: Welcoming Diversity"
Controversial diversity - even in study presentations
Today, this claim faces hurdles in many cases, Rauch said. "We live in a time where there are steps backward," he said, recalling the protests against a drag queen reading to children at the café where the study was presented. As if to redeem those words, the very first statement in the Q&A session after the presentation turned against gendering.
In Germany, 700 linguists had asked the public broadcasters to drop gendering, explained the questioner, a journalist. How does he, Rauch, want to keep it now? He would stick with it anyway, the minister replied: "As an expression of diversity." (Irene Brickner, 7.6.2023)
S | A
