Historical conditions for emergence of the National Policy for Comprehensive LGBT Health in the social space of health in the State of Bahia, Brazil

This is a health policy analysis with a qualitative approach, consisting of 15 interviews (six administrators and nine LGBT activists). The study aimed to understand the historical conditions for the emergence of the National Policy for Comprehensive LGBT Health (PNSI-LGBT) in the social space of health in the State of Bahia, Brazil. The study was based on Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory and the study of the trajectories of the main actors involved in the policy’s formalization. The results evidenced two moments: (1) shaping of the social space of LGBT health, including prior initiatives; (2) space of possibilities and the official discourse for fomenting the implementation of the PNSI-LGBT in Bahia. The LGBT social movement played a crucially important role in drafting the first proposals for a specific health policy. The state’s relationship with the social movements occurred through professional issues and the actors concentrated almost exclusively on bureaucratic capital. It was quite common for actors to circulate between the activist subspace and the bureaucratic subspace. The activists interviewed here that reached the bureaucratic field mostly engaged in the health space for personal reasons and reported that it was a position in which they could act more effectively. The documental findings and collaboration by interlocutors reveal a process of continuous implementation of measures that expand the range of healthcare for the LGBT population. However, the Bahia State Health Department has still not clearly taken the responsibility for a state LGBT policy, and there is thus a hesitant and fragment incorporation of the PNSI-LGBT.

Keywords:
Sexual and Gender Minorities; Policy Making; Social Stigma; Gender Equity