LGBTQIA+ Communities, Pandemics, and Policy Responses

In this groundbreaking volume, editor Wallace Swan and co-editors Chris R. Surfus and Dallas S. Drake assemble an impressive collection of scholarly perspectives examining the complex relationship between LGBTQIA+ communities and public health crises. From the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s to COVID-19 and Mpox, this comprehensive work analyzes how outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics disproportionately impact marginalized populations and how institutional responses have evolved over time. Contributors explore the critical intersection of public health policy, social equity, and community resilience through a multidisciplinary lens.

Drawing on extensive research and firsthand experiences, the book reveals how LGBTQIA+ communities have mobilized in response to inadequate governmental action, creating their own support systems and advocacy networks. Chapters examine intersectional health disparities, the role of nonprofit organizations, bureaucratic responses, and the political dimensions of public health funding. By “connecting the dots” between multiple pandemics affecting LGBTQIA+ populations, the contributors provide a framework for understanding how social marginalization shapes health outcomes and how inclusive, evidence-based approaches can create more equitable responses to public health emergencies.

Highlighting both historical failures and emerging best practices in pandemic response, the book offers valuable insights for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and community advocates. It further stands as an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the unique challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ communities during health crises and the path toward more just and effective public health systems.

Wallace Swan - Contributing Faculty Member at Walden University, Minneapolis, United States, teaching the “Resource Development” and “Current Issues in Regional and Local Policy” courses in the MPA program. He is also a second member (qualitative methodology) on a doctoral student committee. His background includes teaching public policy; administrative ethics; public, private, and nonprofit finance; leadership; global transformational theory; and organization theory at Western International University, University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, Nova Southeastern University, Hamline University, and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He held city-wide elected office at the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation (as the first openly gay citywide elected official). He currently serves as President of the Center for Homicide Research board. Swan is the Immediate Past Chair of the LGBT Advocacy Action Section of the American Society for Public Administration and is included in the 2021–2022 Marquis “Who’s Who in America.” He received the ASPA LGBT Advocacy Section Best Book Award for the book COVID-19, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and Public Policy (Routledge, 2023).

Chris R. Surfus served as Faculty Specialist I of Public Administration at Western Michigan University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration in the 2022–2023 academic year. Previously in the 2021–2022 academic year, Surfus was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability in the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) federally funded Advanced Rehabilitation and Research Training (ARRT) program, where he researched the intersection of disability and LGBTIQ+ populations. Surfus holds a PhD in Public Administration, an MBA, an MPA, a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA). He has 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, including as the Founding President of The Surfus Foundation, the Past Chairperson of the ASPA LGBT Advocacy Alliance, and the Past President of ASPA MICAP, in addition to serving in consultative capacities for a number of nonprofit organizations in West Michigan and advising local governments on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dallas S. Drake is Senior Researcher at the Center for Homicide Research in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his focus on homicide is viewed from a public health perspective. During this work, he has assisted law enforcement and families with reviews of active and cold case homicides. He is a member of the Wisconsin Homicide Investigators’ Cold Case Review Team. His published works include two book chapters on LGBTQ+ populations and the COVID-19 pandemic and chapters in several academic books on LGBTQ+ homicide. He also published a groundbreaking research report about the rare phenomenon of necrophilia in an international volume. Drake was the 2013 recipient of the Carolyn Rebecca Block Award, for an “Outstanding Contribution to Homicide or Lethal Violence Research by a Practitioner.” Before coming to homicide research, he worked as a professional firefighter for 22 years where he routinely responded to calls as an Emergency Medical Technician, assisting paramedics where he firsthand viewed the realities of America’s healthcare system. During the AIDS pandemic, Drake was a public AIDS 101 trainer for the American Red Cross.