Missing Data: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: It’s no secret that communicable diseases can have dramatically different impacts on different groups; elderly people, for example, saw the worst effects of COVID, with a death rate far beyond California’s average. Black Californians also had higher mortality rates from the disease. What of California’s LGBTQ community?

The truth is, we don’t know.

SB 932, a 2020 bill inspired by concerns about potential disparate impacts of COVID on LGBTQ people, directed the California Department of Public Health to collect sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data. A new report released by the State Auditor last month says that CDPH has fallen short and recommends that state law be amended to require more comprehensive practices around SOGI data collection.

Sen. Scott Wiener, the author of SB 932, joined us to talk about why this data is so important, what’s missing, and how California is bucking national trends on LGBTQ healthcare.

And, as always, we tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics. (Hint, it wasn’t Jon Fleischman).

Episode Notes

2:04 The audit

5:24 What’s missing in the report

7:11 Why hasn’t this data been collected before?

9:47 Intersection with Federal Law

10:40 Why the resistance from CDPH?

11:52 Compare this to other states

13:56 Legislation?

15:53 An aside about Housing

17:55 WWCA