"The Truth Behind Why Lesbian and Bisexual Women Have Higher Death Rates – You Won't Believe The Reason!"

A new study suggests that discrimination and social stigma are among the causes.

Important point Lesbian and bisexual women are at higher risk for a variety of negative health impacts.

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It appears that lesbian and bisexual women tend to die much earlier, according to a new long-term study. The causes of higher mortality rates are multifactorial, but include systemic discrimination, social stigma, stress, and isolation.

It's common knowledge that members of the LGBTQIA+ community tend to face more health challenges than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts. A new study underscores how tragic the consequences can be, showing that lesbian and bisexual women die much earlier than heterosexual women. 

The study authors argue that social stigma and prejudice are the two main reasons this occurs.

Do lesbian and bisexual women die earlier than heterosexual women?

Women who identify as lesbian die 20 percent faster than heterosexual women, while bisexual women die 37 percent faster, according to a 2024 study in JAMA Network. The analysis includes decades of data from the Nurses' Health Study II, which investigated risk factors for chronic disease in women and included data from more than 100,000 nurses in the United States.

As part of the study, which began in 1989, participants were asked about their sexual orientation in 1995. Researchers examined 30 years of death records to determine participants' lifetimes and how that related to sexual orientation in the 2024 paper.

“The size and duration of the Nurses' Health Study II allowed researchers to evaluate lesbian and bisexual participants separately, which has not been done by previous studies in the US,” Sarah McKetta, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard and lead author of the new study, said.

“In the US, including information about research participants' sexual orientation was not common until 2014, making it difficult for researchers to investigate premature death rates among sexual minorities. ” he said.

Why do lesbian and bisexual women die earlier?

LGBTQIA+ people, especially women, experience significant physical and mental health disparities compared to cisgender and heterosexual groups, according to a 2021 review.

These challenges tend to impact members of the LGBTQIA+ community throughout their lives, from adolescence through old age, and negatively impact their overall health and quality of life.

“These systemic and highly reproducible disparities encompass nearly all negative health outcomes, including chronic disease, mental health problems, and risky behaviors such as alcohol use and smoking,” McKettal said.

“In almost all the results we saw in the various surveys, we saw that lesbian, gay and bisexual women were at higher risk,” he said, adding that the new study was an opportunity to quantify the magnitude of the gap.

New research shows women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are twice as likely as heterosexuals to use alcohol or tobacco and have higher rates of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression.

In additional analyzes based only on participants who had never smoked, the mortality gap remained.

What are the risk factors that influence the lifespan of lesbian and bisexual women?

Several factors likely contributed to the mortality gap, according to the study authors. “First, many LGBTQIA+ people experience prejudice, discrimination, and social stigma, which causes chronic stress,” said Carey Candrian, Ph.D., vice president of the Lesbian Health Fund at the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA).

Extensive research has demonstrated the impact chronic stress has on the body, contributing to a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and mood disorders.

“What's worse, many people turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, especially if they feel isolated,” Candrian said. “I think one of the things this [study] does is show the impact of increased stress levels due to internalized stigma, which I think is very significant.”

Many people fear revealing their identity and the impact it will have on various aspects of life, including family, work, personal relationships, housing and financial security.

“Such fear impacts physical and mental health and people's ability to have authentic friendships and community – which are pillars of health and quality of life,” Candrian said. 

"The fear that if they open up, will that mean they'll lose their jobs? Will it mean they'll lose their families?"

"It's a serious fear that has a real impact on public health. 

And I think women in general have always been marginalized, so if you add in other identities, like lesbian and bisexual, it just magnifies everything," Candrian said.

Additionally, many LGBTQIA+ people experience difficulty seeking medical care due to systemic barriers and fear of discrimination by individual healthcare providers.

“This may mean they miss out on opportunities to address health problems early—when they are more treatable—or prevent them altogether,” Candrian said.

Homophobia and transphobia can indirectly increase the chances of LGBTQIA+ people getting cancer, for example, according to a 2024 report from the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“They have a bad history of dealing with the medical system, so they are more likely to delay health care than heterosexual people, which also impacts their mortality,” he said.

As for why bisexual women tend to die sooner than lesbians, research shows women who are attracted to more than one gender tend to have poorer physical and mental health and are at greater risk of substance abuse and sexual violence.

“This may be due to the added pressure of dealing with biphobia from the LGBTQIA+ community and society at large,” Candrian said. "They get a lot of stigma for being 'confused,' and that's really bad."

“Bisexual people are often excluded from certain groups because they are perceived as straight or gay based on the gender of their partner,” Brittany Charlton, the study's senior author and professor at Harvard University, said in a press release.

“These factors can further hinder bisexual people's ability to feel a sense of belonging and community

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