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Health-Related Concerns of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation: Thematic Analysis Using Social Media Data
Ari Z Klein1, Kaelen Spiegel2, José A Bauermeister3
1Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
JMIR Infodemiology
|September 11, 2025
Summary
Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation raises health concerns for sexual minority men, with healthcare, safety, and mental health being top issues. Social media data reveals these widespread worries, informing targeted interventions and advocacy efforts.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Sociology
- Digital Health
Background:
- Over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were proposed across 42 states in 2024, increasing legislative scrutiny.
- Previous research primarily focused on the mental health impacts of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
- A broader exploration of health concerns is needed to understand the full impact on sexual minority men.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the health-related concerns of sexual minority men in response to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
- To utilize social media data for a comprehensive analysis of these concerns.
- To identify specific health themes and demographic variations in expressed concerns.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed 70 million tweets from 23,276 self-identified sexual minority men in the U.S.
- Searched tweets for keywords related to LGBTQ+ legislation and identified health-related concerns.
- Developed a coding scheme to categorize concerns inductively and performed subgroup analyses by location and age.
Main Results:
- Out of 8,486 keyword-matched tweets, 493 (5.8%) expressed health concerns from 288 users.
- Top concerns included healthcare (38.9%), safety (29.2%), mental health (22.2%), general harm (21.5%), human rights (17%), and support (13.9%).
- Healthcare was the primary concern nationwide and across age groups; mental health concerns were more prevalent in the South and among younger individuals.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight diverse health concerns among sexual minority men facing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
- Social media data provides valuable insights into these populations' lived experiences.
- Results can inform targeted health interventions and empower advocacy groups to counter discriminatory legislation.
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