How Much and for Whom Does Partnership Protect Sexual Minorities from Physical Health Disparities?

• In Event: LGBTQ+ Families

Abstract

Background. Sexual minority populations are growing, and LGB-identified persons have diverse relationships with same- and mixed-sex partners. Yet little is known about whether the documented benefits of partnership for health extend to sexual minority individuals, or to what extent and for whom those benefits counterbalance overall sexual minority health disparities. We examine physical health disparities by combined sexual orientation and relationship status, attending to heterogeneities by gender, between gay/lesbian and bisexual persons, and between marriage and cohabitation.
Methods. To yield sufficiently large subsamples at the intersection of LGB sexual orientations, relationship status, and gender, we pooled repeated cross-sectional data from the nationally representative 2018-2022 Swedish National Public Health Surveys (N=312,926 to 318,690). Focal physical health outcomes were self-rated health, symptoms, functional impairment, body mass index, and physical conditions.
Results. Unpartnered lesbian/gay and bisexual Swedish women and men reported compromised physical health compared to heterosexuals. Gay/lesbian men’s and women’s married and cohabiting partnerships were usually as protective for health as heterosexual marriage. For bisexual women, partnership was not protective for physical health, but bisexual married and cohabiting men’s health was similar to that of heterosexual married men.
Conclusion. Partnership status is an important source of heterogeneity in physical health disparities experienced by Swedish sexual minorities. In the relatively supportive Swedish context, partnership protections can largely counterbalance sexual minority health disparities for gay/lesbian identified persons and bisexual men. For bisexual women and unpartnered lesbian/gay and bisexual Swedes, expanded societal protections have not provided sufficient protection from physical health disparities.

Authors

• Stefanie Mollborn, Stockholm University

• Bethany G Everett, University of Utah

• Richard Bränström, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden