The social inequality and stigma afflicting the LGBTQ+ and TGNC (transgender and gender non-conforming) populations in Chicago creates a health-care quandary; they’re more susceptible to issues such as HIV, cancer, and suicide, yet less likely to receive care.
The LGBTQ and TGNC population in Chicago is about 146,000 people, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Of that population, 80,000 people identify as male, 66,000 identify as female, and 10,000 identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. According to the same assessment, 65.5 percent of the queer community is employed for wages, 9.7 percent are self-employed, 13.4 percent are students, and 9.9 percent are unemployed. The unemployment rate for the queer community is 3 percent higher than the 6.9 percent unemployment rate for Chicago’s general population.
Center On Halsted, a community center that also serves as an incubator for smaller LBGTQ+ nonprofit organizations, serves more than 1,000 community members a day. Brave Space Alliance, the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ center in Chicago, provides HIV testing, wellness services, relief funds for trans folks, and has a forthcoming telehealth program that will provide mental health services for trans individuals. Practical Audacity, a gender and sex therapy group practice, offers mental health services to queer Chicagoans through insurance and affordable out-of-pocket options.
While Chicago’s queer-focused health-care centers and initiatives fill a huge void for those lacking state assistance or employment, others are still left seeking aid.
Neighborhood alternatives are often equally hit-or-miss.
“I’ve tried to use telehealth through NorthShore [University HealthSystem] and it’s been really bad,” Gamba says. “They just tell me to come in person, which I don’t.”
