Mental Health Disparities and Social Experiences of LGBT Individuals in South Korea: Rainbow connection project I & II Horim Yi, Hyemin Lee, Jooyoung Park, Bokyoung Choi, Seung-Sup Kim Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School of Korea University This study aims to assess mental health disparities and social experiences of LGBT adults in South Korea, where stigmas against LGBT people pervade despite the incremental changes in social attitudes toward LGBT people. We conducted a nation-wide cross-sectional survey regarding the social experiences and health status of South Korean lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults (aged 19+) in 2016 and South Korean transgender (aged 19+) adults in 2017. The number of participants total 2,341 and 285, respectively. Among survey participants, 19.0% of LGB adults and 28.5% transgender adults reported poor self-rated health. Prevalence of depressive symptoms (CESD-20) was 45.0% for LGB and 62.5% for transgender people. 34.6% of LGB adults reported that they experienced suicidal ideation over the past 12 months with 4.7% reported suicide attempts over the past 12 months. For transgender people, prevalence of suicidal ideation is 53.9% and reported suicide attempts is 15.1%. Participants reported a range of negative social experiences, including discrimination and victimization based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. For example, 22.6% of LGB adults and 51.5% of transgender adults reported that they experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity during past 12 months. These results suggest that Korean LGBT people have a poor mental health status and face various negative social experiences. Moreover, transgender people are generally more vulnerable to negative social experiences and mental health problems compared to LGB people. We conclude that interventions are needed to improve the health and livelihoods of LGBT people in South Korea.