The census of the homeless population in the city of São Paulo: profile of LGBTQIA+ people and the challenges of public health policies

Abstract

The last census of the homeless population of the city of São Paulo, in 2021, counted 31,884 people. The question of gender
identity was self-reported by 68.58%, against 31.42% of people who didn't answer. The majority, 54.91% are cisgender men and
11.58% are cisgender women. In the census, 668 people (3.05%) self-reported other identities not cisgender and represent the LGBTQIA+ universe analyzed. Considering the individual, social, and programmatic vulnerabilities of LGBTQIA+ people, we examine,
from an intersectional perspective, the profile of this population, regarding the characterization of the street situation, the time they
have been living on the streets, the age group, the specificities of their gender identity and race/color/ethnicity, as well as the methodological difficulties of data collection. Predominantly, 58.08% is concentrated in 3 of the 31 sub districts; the majority is male;
one third identifies as agender; 63.03% self-declares as black and brown; 45.21% is between 31 and 49 years old; more than half has
been living on the streets for more than 2 years; 71.41% was homeless and less than one third was sheltered by the municipal services. The COVID-19 pandemic, has intensified the vulnerabilities of the LGBTQIA+ homeless population in the country's wealthiest city and its mitigation requires greater proactivity from public health policies in interface with other sectors.