The life expectancy of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is a subject of research. Early research claiming a significantly shorter life expectancy among homosexuals are not considered reliable, although has been widely misused and cited. During the AIDS crisis, a significant loss of life expectancy was observed among gay men, although this is no longer the case today.
In the late 2000s, research suggested "the claims of drastically increased overall mortality in gay men and lesbians appear unjustified". As of 2020, data from Sweden found no gap in mortality between homosexual and heterosexual individuals, although mortality may be higher in bisexuals.
There is not yet reliable research on life expectancy of transgender people, although false statistics have been widely circulated.
Homosexual life expectancy
Flawed claims of significantly shorter life expectancy
Cameron studies
Early studies by the controversial psychologist Paul Cameron purported to find that homosexuals had a life expectancy 20 to 30 years shorter than heterosexuals; however his methodology and flaws make his findings unreliable. Cameron's methodology was described as "just ridiculous" by demographer Nicholas Eberstadt at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, and the epidemiologist Morten Frisch described his work ''of such a grave nature that no decent peer-reviewed scientific journal should let it pass for publication". Cameron had relied on newspaper obituaries which clearly referred to sexual orientation. In the 1980s, Cameron was expelled from the American Psychological Association for violations.
Hogg et al. Another study published in 1998 by Hogg et al. modelled the impact of AIDS deaths in Vancouver between 1987 and 1992, estimating a loss of life expectancy in the gay male population of between 8 and 20 years. The authors released a statement in 2001 clarifying that their findings would no longer be relevant as AIDS deaths had fallen significantly, primarily due to antiretroviral therapy.
Misuse
Despite the flaws of Paul Cameron's research, and the limitations of the Hogg study, many anti-gay groups and individuals have cited these studies to characterize homosexuality as inherently dangerous or as an unhealthy "lifestyle". Paul Cameron's research group claimed that homosexuality is "as dangerous to public health as drug abuse, prostitution, and smoking". In 1997, the U.S. secretary of education William Bennett claimed that gay men die at 43 years during a television interview, a figure from a flawed Cameron study.
In response to frequent misuse, Hogg et al. noted their findings would no longer be applicable in 2001. In 2003, the economist Walter E. Williams cited the Hogg study to argue that homosexuals should pay more for life insurance, stating "that's a lifestyle shortening of life expectancy greater than obesity and tobacco use". In 2012, the Australian Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen claimed homosexuality reduced one's lifespan by 20 years during a debate on same-sex marriage.
Frisch 2009 and 2013 studies
The Danish epidemiologist Morten Frisch carried out more robust research in 2009 using marriage data from Denmark. His study found excess mortality was limited to the first few years of marriage, consistent with men who had preexisting illnesses (such as HIV/AIDS) marrying and dying. Frisch stated "we observed a drastic reduction from 9.63 excess deaths per 1000 person-years among those who married their partner in the pre-HAART period to 1.53 excess deaths per 1000 person-years for those who married during the HAART period". According to Frisch, "the claims of drastically increased overall mortality in gay men and lesbians appear unjustified".
In 2013, Frisch also carried out another study which found excess mortality in homosexual men had shrunk further. It linked same-sex marriage with increases in life expectancy.
2014 retraction
A 2014 study by Hatzenbuelher et al. purported to find that sexual minorities living in areas with high levels of anti-gay prejudice had their life expectancy reduced by 12 years. However, it was retracted in 2019 when it was discovered there was a coding error in the data, and that after correcting the error it "rendered the association between structural stigma and mortality risk no longer statistically significant".
Other mortality studies
A 2020 study in Sweden found that mortality among homosexual men and women did not significantly differ from heterosexuals, although it was elevated for bisexual men and women.