The marginalization of LGBTQIA+ in public health discourse.

Abstract

Violence, discrimination, stigma and criminalization negatively impact the lives of millions of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersex, asexuals and other individuals with diverse sexualities and genders (LGBTQIA+) people around the world and contribute to poverty and social instability. Even before the 2022 war in Ukraine, there have been instances of hate speech, discrimination, harassment and abuse of LGBTQIA+ people in Ukraine. A recently published article validates the claim that members of LGBTQIA+ has been experiencing marginalization ranging from the health systems to their rights movement during the 2022 military conflict in Ukraine.1 The author indeed asked an important question for our times: how can we address their needs and lessen their marginalization and decrease their distress and fears of uncertainties? In response to this important yet often look problem in public health discourse, the author of this correspondence proposes an inclusivist-pluralist principle to promote health equality and equity. The twentieth century saw a wave of organized activism to secure civil rights and freedoms for LGBTQIA+ people. LGBTQIA+ individuals had long been subject to public hostility and legal prosecution, and were widely denied protection against discrimination in employment, housing, military service, and private and public services.3 Historical data suggest that countries facing existential threat of war have mobilized their marginalized communities—women, racial and ethnic minorities—into new social belonging during wars. This often led to dramatic changes during and after war. One of the First World War’s most enduring legacies is largely forgotten: it sparked the modern gay rights movement. Following the Second World War, empires collapsed because of the war, old countries were abolished and new ones were formed and created. However, marginalized groups just as often return to a marginalized status during and after the wars. The LGBTQIA+ faces the same urgent concern of marginalization on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics.2 This is not only a human rights concern but a public health concern as well.