Social Climate and LGBT Health and Well-being

Gary J. Gates, University of California, Los Angeles

A substantial amount of research, primarily within Psychology, shows that LGBT individuals are sensitive to minority stress, whereby negative social attitudes toward sexual minorities contribute to negative impacts on LGBT health. Very few of these studies use population-based data. In June 2012, Gallup began collecting data on LGBT-identification as part of its daily tracking poll. The data represent one of the largest probability samples of LGBT respondents ever collected (underlying N>60,000). The survey collects information about both political views and self-reported assessments of health and well-being. Using multivariate regression analyses, this paper will consider the relationship between state-level social climate and LGBT health. Social climate will be measured using results from polling on attitudes toward LGBT people and about LGBT issues along with voting behavior. Models will assess if negative attitudes toward LGBT people and more conservative social climates influence how LGBT individuals assess their health and well-being.