The Economics of Pride: The Cycle of Poverty for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Rose Haven opened its doors in 1997 with the goal to help the gender centered issues for women. It was a place  free from the gender-based violence and abuse that disproportionately targets people experiencing homelessness and poverty.  Rose Haven continues to be a day shelter serving those most harmed by sexism and gender-based violence. However our understanding of what that means has changed. 

Today our doors are open to beyond cis women as we understand that trans, non-binary, and gender fluid folks are actually the most likely to be harmed by gender-based violence. 

According to data, LGBTQIA+ individuals are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. In 2021, the poverty rate among LGBTQIA+ individuals stood at 17%, compared to 12% among non-LGBTQIA+ individuals, even though LGBTQIA+ individuals comprise only  5.5% of the U.S. population.

 

Systemic discrimination against LGBTQ+ people starts at a young age and has lasting economic dis-advancements.  Such experiences can result in academic disengagement, limited access to higher education, and long-term economic insecurity. Within school 62.6% of transgender and gender-expansive youth—have been “teased, bullied, or treated badly.”

Within the work place 40% of LGBTQ+ workers have withheld their identity at their job due to fear of being stigmatized or facing violence at work. Discrimination can take forms in many different stages from the initial interview all the way to senior level promotions.

Beyond work discrimination there are housing limitations for members in the community.  A 2019 study found that same-sex couple applicants were 73% more likely to be denied a mortgage than similarly situated opposite-sex couples and that same-sex couples who were approved for a mortgage were charged higher average interest rates compared with opposite-sex couples. Overall, 28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives, 16% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had slept away from parents or caregivers because they ran away from home, with more than half (55%) reporting that they ran away from home because of mistreatment or fear of mistreatment due to their LGBTQ identity. And 14% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had slept away from parents or caregivers because they were kicked out or abandoned, with 40% reporting that they were kicked out or abandoned due to their LGBTQ identity.

 

Systemic discrimination makes LGBTQ+ individuals more likely to experience poverty and more likely to encounter certain barriers to accessing public benefits, such lack of access to individuals remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and may suffer from short- and long-term health effects. 

In 2020, the Center for American Progress published the results of a survey in which 66% of transgender LGBTQ respondents and 23% of cisgender LGBTQ respondents reported some degree of difficulty obtaining accurate identification documents due to discrimination. In 2015 Transgender Equality Report captured that “[a]s a result of showing an ID with a name or gender that did not match their gender presentation [in public], 25% of [respondents] were verbally harassed, 16% were denied services or benefits, 9% were asked to leave a location or establishment, and 2% were assaulted or attacked.”

Advocates and allies should push congress to pass anti-discrimination legislation on a federal level. Additionally move towards repeal or amend existing federal legislation that reinforces the cycle of poverty in the LGBTQ+ community. 

The pride celebrations that happen globally throughout June and July  are an affirmation of identity, and a celebration of a community – with international calls for equality, inclusions and justice. Join us at the Pride Northwest Festival July 19th and 20th in Portland!