Challenges for the Well-Being of and Health Equity for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) people struggle for health and well-being in many contexts. In this article we describe the experiences of discrimination and perceived priorities for well-being in a sample of LGBT people in Puerto Rico. A community based-participatory research approach provided to collect data from 233 LGBT individuals attending a pride event. Nearly half of the sample reported not self-disclosing sexual orientation to healthcare providers and school was found to be the most common setting for experiencing discrimination. The main perceived priority for well-being was marriage equality. Addressing social determinants of health such as discrimination at work and lack of inclusion in healthcare services may lead the way towards health equity for LGBT people in Puerto Rico.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBT
• sexual health promotion
• sexual minority
• sexual health policy
• Puerto Rico

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants of the study as well as the volunteers who provided support in data collection including Alíxida Ramos-Pibernus, Ángel Flores, Edda I. Rodríguez-Santiago, Edgardo J. Ortiz-Sánchez, Gretchel Jhaveri, Iván Viera, Lorell A. Santiago, Ricardo Vargas-Molina, Rosa Coluccio, Valerie De León, and Verónica Tirado. Special thanks to Randall L. Chambers, José Luiggi and Gabriel Laborde for their contribution and revision of earlier versions of this document.