Sexual minority groups have been neglected historically in epidemiology and public health research, although this was not necessarily intentional. Historically, the number of volunteers available has often been too small to analyze robustly. Large numbers of volunteers from across the population are needed to ensure that results are both inclusive and robust. UK Biobank helped change that. Over 500,000 volunteers provided anonymous data about their sexual behaviour, which was found to correspond quite well with UK population data on sexual orientation identity (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual). Now, after 12 years of follow-up, it is possible for researchers to find out if adults in minority sexual orientation groups are at increased risk of earlier death compared to heterosexual adults. This is the ultimate test of health inequality. Although we cannot consider transgender and other identities at this stage, this research will break new ground. It will help explain and address the well-documented health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults.
