As Pride Month winds down, health advocates want members of the LGBTQ+ community to know about health care options, despite any challenges to obtaining them.

Nearly 8% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual, according to 2023 data, which is more than double the number in 2012.

Despite the increase, the group still faces health care disparities. According to a 2023 survey from the health policy organization KFF, LGBTQ+ people are more likely to self-report poorer health, experience higher rates of disability and have more need for mental health services. Those living in rural places face additional challenges.

Kenny Starling, owner of Wyoming’s debut drag and theater production company, said health care can feel like a taboo topic, especially for queer people.

“On top of that, the actual health care providers themselves being up-to-date on the information about queer individuals and the resources that should be available to us,” Starling pointed out.

Starling noted it took them four months to find a local doctor willing to work with them to obtain Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, an HIV preventive Starling’s original doctor had not even heard of. According to KFF, nearly half of LGBTQ+ people have reported a negative experience with a health care provider in the last two years, as opposed to one-third of people outside the group. It includes the provider dismissing patient concerns, making assumptions, thinking the patient was lying and more.

Starling emphasized their theater and drag company has been busy during Pride month. The company uses performances to address health care, talking about it during shows and providing resources in the lobby.

“We alternate between the resources,” Starling added. “Be they mental health services or free rapid HIV and STD testing, suicide prevention, access to Enroll Wyoming and health insurance resources.”

Open enrollment for health insurance begins Nov. 1 in most states but special enrollment periods apply for those experiencing certain life changes.

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Full-time LGBTQ+ workers make about 90 cents for every dollar earned by the average worker in the U.S.

Today is LGBTQ+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, and an Arizona organization is continuing to call for a more just and equal Arizona.

Angela Hughey, co-founder and president of the coalition One Community, said her organization wants to see progress. In a 2020 landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held an employer who fires or discriminates against an individual for being gay or transgender would be in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But Hughey pointed out it only applies to businesses with 15 or more employees. At the state level, 11 Arizona cities have enacted LGBTQ+ inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances.

“Unless the business is located in one of the 11 municipalities, that already has LGBTQ+ municipal ordinances in place in employment and housing and public accommodations, it’s not unlawful to discriminate against a person based on their sexual orientation,” Hughey emphasized. “We need to do better.”

Hughey said One Community is supportive of the Equality and Fairness for All Arizonans Act which would extend nondiscrimination protections statewide. The measure has faced pushback from the state’s Republican majority legislature who disagree with it for ideological reasons. Yet 77% of Arizonans would support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, according to the nonpartisan organization Public Religion Research Institute.

Hughey noted while things are changing, LGBTQ+ people in the state live in “two Arizonas.”

“What you see is that those LGBTQ inclusive ordinances cover less than 15% of the geographic area that is Arizona,” Hughey pointed out. “That means if you’re an LGBTQ person, particularly if you’re living in the more rural areas, you don’t have the same protections.”

Hughey underlined while Maricopa County is seeing significant economic gains, it is also experiencing a talent deficit, so businesses, regardless of size, should ensure they are paying their employees in an equitable way.

“If you want the best and the brightest, it is important you are paying your talented folks,” Hughey contended.

Hughey added along with addressing the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ population, inclusionary employment practices are also good for business.

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The New Hampshire Senate has advanced a series of bills, which opponents say will roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people.

The measures ban transgender girls from playing sports in middle and high school, ban transgender people from using bathrooms aligning with their gender and ban gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 18.

Sarah Robinson, education justice campaign director for Granite State Progress, called the bills discriminatory and cruel.

“LGBTQ+ people and those that know and love them are urging a swift veto to these mean-spirited bills that are based in misinformation,” Robinson emphasized. “When we say ‘live free or die’ we mean everyone.”

Supporters said the bills are needed to ensure safety and fairness in both sports and public spaces and protect young people from making decisions they may regret. Gov. Chris Sununu has said he shares the concerns but has not indicated whether he will sign the bills.

Another measure aims to limit educators’ ability to discuss issues related to gender identity or sexual orientation with their students and would require teachers give parents two weeks notice regarding any related curriculum.

Deb Howes, president of the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire, said labeling the subjects as “objectionable material” hurts students and diminishes public education.

“That is to the determinant of all of our Granite State students and all of our Granite State communities,” Howes contended. “Because if we have less educated students, that is bad for our future.”

Howes added the bills also make it harder to retain and recruit teachers at a time when fewer people are entering the profession. Others say permitting discrimination against transgender people will hurt the state’s economy.

More than 200 businesses recently signed on to a letter to Gov. Sununu warning him bills targeting transgender youth are tarnishing the state’s reputation.

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A staggering 93% of transgender teens live in a state that has enacted or proposed legislation that would restrict their rights, according to a new report from the Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law. Utah was the first state this year to enact a bathroom ban, and that has led to some confusion as school districts aim to come into compliance.

Elana Redfield, federal policy director is one of the report’s authors and says despite the law being what she terms “more measured,” as it may permit some to use the corresponding restroom under limited circumstances, it doesn’t mean it is less harmful.

“Even the mere fact of discrimination being debated, of laws being debated that might potentially result in a restriction of rights or access to services, that can have mental-health outcomes,” she said.

86% of transgender and nonbinary youths say debates around anti-trans bills have negatively impacted their mental health, according to The Trevor Project. The Williams Institute report also found that some states with an existing law impacting access to bathrooms also had new or carried-over bills pending in 2024, that could further limit access. Redfield said the constant uncertainty that LGBTQ people face on a daily basis is taxing and can have serious consequences.

While Utah may also have a gender-affirming care ban and is currently having its transgender sports ban challenged in court due to provisions that are likely unconstitutional and violate Title IX, Redfield said she is pleased to see similar laws failing to pass, in many cases because of people-driven initiatives.

“We see a lot of power in state governments and we see this kind of inspiring example from reproductive rights. Arizona is a great example of people power and access to reproductive care, but also Kansas, when you see that the attempts to ban gender-affirming care have not been successful, and also attempts to ban abortion have not been successful in Kansas,” she continued.

Redfield added it is important to highlight that half of all transgender youths in the U.S. live in 14 states and the District of Columbia that have enacted “shield” laws, which protect doctors and parents who have sought gender-affirming care for trans youth. She added that almost 200,000 trans teens now live in states that have banned conversion therapy, one of which is Utah.

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