As a public health concern, eliminating LGBT health disparities and enhancing efforts in improving their health are necessary to ensure that members of the LGBT community can also live longer and healthier lives. An important initial step in improving overall LGBT health is to determine their perceived health needs and health-related issues. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was utilized to determine the health status and perceived health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in Zamboanga City. A total of 223 respondents were identified from the different barangays of Zamboanga City, using purposive sampling with direct and indirect recruitment strategies. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized for data collection, and a series of focus group discussions were conducted to gather qualitative data on perceived health needs of LGBT individuals. The study concluded that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in Zamboanga City have a number of health risks, such as increased rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, unsafe sex practices and risky behavior, not seeking help for mental health problems, and lack of medical supervision for transitioning. They also identified sexual health, mental health issues, transitioning, and social support as important health needs, and identified barriers to healthcare access to be inadequacy of services, negative experiences in health care settings, as well as inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes of healthcare providers in handling LGBT patients, thus affirming the need for allocation of more resources such as legislation, manpower and services, as well as training of healthcare providers in handling LGBT patients and educating the public on LGBT health.

Keyword: Health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals