Abstract
AbstractThis study examined the health consequences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations of exposure to communities with relatively high versus low levels of support for same‐sex marriage. We used data from the Gallup Daily tracking survey, the largest probability‐based sample of LGBT‐identified adults in the United States (N = 11,949 LGBT respondents; N = 352,343 non‐LGBT respondents), which was linked to attitudinal responses on same‐sex marriage obtained from the 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey (N = 54,535). Controlling for potential confounders, higher levels of local approval of same‐sex marriage lowered the probability that LGBT (and non‐LGBT) individuals reported smoking and fair/poor self‐rated health; further, LGBT disparities in smoking were lower in communities where residents were most likely to support same‐sex marriage. Findings suggest that local attitudes may be related to the health of LGBT individuals and contribute to sexual orientation health disparities, providing further evidence for the role of structural stigma in shaping LGBT health.
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