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Policy Impacting Public Health (PIPH) for LGBTQ Populations Project

The Policy Impacting Public Health (PIPH) for LGBTQ Project is a collaborative research project between Saint Louis University School of Law Center for Health Law Studies, Pacific University School of Social Work and Wayne State University College of Education, that collects, analyzes and shares data on how laws and policies influence the health of LGBTQIA+ people. 

Using legal epidemiology, this project captures detailed information about laws, including their enforcement mechanisms and preemption provisions, to support research on how policy shapes public health outcomes and to add to the currently available data on LGBTQIA+ laws and policies.

This initiative provides longitudinal legal epidemiology policy surveillance datasets designed for:

  • Health outcomes researchers
  • Policymakers and advocates
  • Public health communities
  • LGBTQIA+ community members and organizations

These datasets address the current lack of detailed, researcher-accessible legal data in LGBTQIA+ health research. By tracking how policies evolve and how they are enforced, the project enables more precise analysis of the relationship between law, stigma, and health outcomes.

Data Access and Structure

Each dataset includes:

  • Full dataset for researchers
  • Codebook and documentation
  • Research protocol
  • Interactive Maps and Tables

Current and Upcoming Data Topics

The PIPH Project is developing multiple longitudinal datasets that examine different areas of LGBTQIA+ law and policy:

  • Conversion Therapy Laws (released October 2025) 
  • Medical Care Bans for Transgender Youth (in progress)
  • Medical Shield Laws for Transgender Youth (in progress)
  • Future datasets will expand to additional areas of LGBTQIA+ public health policy.  
Research Context

Research consistently shows significant mental and physical health disparities affecting LGBTQIA+ populations, particularly concerning rates of self-injury and suicide.

These disparities are shaped by social and structural determinants of health, including how laws and policies affect access to care, protection from discrimination, and experiences of stigma.

  • Laws can directly impact health through policy provisions (e.g., restricting or expanding access to care).
  • Laws can also indirectly affect health by shaping social stigma and discrimination.

As Blake and Hatzenbuehler (The Lancet, 2019) argued, researchers need detailed, accessible legal datasets to study these connections. This project answers that call by providing longitudinal data that aligns with existing health outcomes datasets.

Collaborators and Affiliations

Co-Investigators

Collaborating Institutions

Related Publications from Project Faculty

Lisa Kcomt et al., Associations of Sexual Orientation and Sexual Orientation-Related State Policy Environments with Smoking and Lung Cancer Screening Outcomes Among U.S. Adults, Nicotine & Tobacco Research (Mar. 31, 2025), https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaf078

Sarah Kiperman et al., The Impact of the Legal Landscape on LGBTQ+ Students and Their School Psychologists, 29 Contemp. Sch. Psychol. 236 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-024-00504-9

Sarah Kiperman et al., Understanding How Overturning Roe v. Wade Impacts the Rights of LGBTQ+ Youth: A Call to Active Advocacy, 52 Communiqué 7 (2024), https://www.nasponline.org/publications/periodicals/communique/issues/volume-52-issue-8 

Heather A. Walter-McCabe & Margaret K. Kinney, An Argument for Explicit Public Health Rationale in LGBTQ Antidiscrimination Law as a Tool for Stigma Reduction, 13 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol’y 147 (2020), https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp/vol13/iss2/3 

Feedback and Future Work

This legal epidemiology research team engages in a responsive process with researchers, advocates, and data analysts where we systematically review data based on the needs of your project. We welcome feedback and specific topic requests.

Contact

For questions about the PIPH Project or collaboration opportunities, please contact
Heather Walter-McCabe, J.D., M.S.W.
heather.waltermccabe@slu.edu.