Portuguese LGBT Outlet Dezanove Publishes Reader Poll on Public Healthcare

On October 21, 2026, Portuguese LGBT outlet Dezanove published the results of a voluntary reader poll about experiences with Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS). The outlet stressed that the sample was not representative of the country’s entire LGBT population.

Participants were asked to rate their experiences with the SNS as LGBT people. The option “I have never felt any difference” was chosen by 38% of respondents. Another 32% rated their experience as good, 13% as satisfactory and 17% as bad.

The article does not state the number of participants or when responses were collected. The results reflect only the views of readers who chose to take part and cannot establish how LGBT people across Portugal as a whole rate public healthcare.

Dezanove also cautioned that a negative assessment of a healthcare experience does not in itself mean discrimination. The poll does not identify the reasons for dissatisfaction or establish a direct connection to participants’ sexual orientation or gender identity. The share of bad ratings therefore cannot be treated as a measure of the prevalence of discrimination in the SNS.