For the last several months, the national presidential election has dominated headlines. For anyone tuning in — or, likely, trying to tune out — it’s been an election wrought with rhetoric, accusations, and blatant lies, some of which have been aimed at minorities and other marginalized groups who make easy targets. 

But despite this current and seemingly unproductive political environment, quietly behind the scenes the LGBT community has enjoyed a few small victories that run counter to the national narrative.

Just this month the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health, affirmed that LGBT individuals can now be considered as a minority population and thus prioritized when the institution makes its funding decisions.

While not widely publicized, this decision is significant, given that less than 1 percent (0.1 percent, in fact) of NIH funding since the 1970s has been spent on LGBT research, according to a recent study. Within this small amount of funding, about 79 percent went exclusively to studies related to HIV and AIDS.

Although HIV remains a major public health concern and deserving of attention, it isn’t the only critical health issue facing the LGBT community today. Other significant LGBT health issues include a three times higher-than-average rate of suicide attempt when compared to the general population, significantly higher rates for internalizing disorders like anxiety and depression, and a 190 percent higher chance of reporting a history of substance use or abuse. This NIH decision opens the door for more research opportunities that could greatly improve the health outcomes for LGBT individuals in the future.

In a separate yet equally significant development earlier this year, we also saw the American Dialect Society declare the Word of the Year for 2015 to be “they” — a historically important event. The win for the singular “they” can be seen as an affirmation and validation of gender minority individuals and is a term that shows acceptance of transgender and nonbinary people.

When viewed independently, these two recent developments might be considered only minor victories. But when viewed together, they are momentous and highly related.

Read more in The Advocate.