Important LGBT Issues

Many mainstream LGBT organizations think that we need to shift our focus from marriage to other issues. Some of the issues that they feel are important to look at are starting to gain attention.

1. Violence against queer and trans people is being heightened by recent legislation. The bathroom issue has gotten National and world attention in recent weeks. There are many incidents of anti-LGBT hate violence. More protections need to be put in place to help curb these hate crimes.

2. Racial justice is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. Many of the issues facing the general LGBT population are even worse for people of color. LGBT people of color are twice as likely to experience physical violence. Roughly two thirds of the homicide victims are people of color. Racial justice or “the systemic fair treatment of all people of all races, resulting in equal opportunities and outcomes for all: is not specific to LGBT people but true justice for LGBT people cant’ be achieved if not all of us are liberated.

3. Queer and trans homeless youth is becoming a real problem. 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT. 68% of those kids were kicked out of their families and homes because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 54% reported being survivors of abuse from their families. These experiences leave these young people vulnerable to mental and physical health issues.

4. Immigrant justice has come into public awareness. And estimated 2.7% of our nation’s undocumented immigrants identify as LGBT. Undocumented immigrants have been integral to building the immigration movement. The deportation and detention process for immigrants is particularly awful for LGBT people, who are often harassed and abused.

5. Economic justice is particularly challenging for LGBT people. Many queers and trans people are in the low-income bracket. Employment discrimination, lack of health insurance, homelessness and other factors make LGBT people particularly vulnerable to the impact of economic inequality. Gay and lesbian families are significantly more likely to be living below the poverty line that heterosexual married families, and children in gay and lesbian households are twice as likely to live in poverty. The statistics are even worse for LGBT people of color.

6. Trans justice is becoming a critical issue as more trans people are coming out. Empowerment of trans people needs to be central to the movement for LGBT justice. Many trans people live in extreme poverty. 41% of trans people have attempted suicide as compared to 1.6% of the general population. Trans people are consistently abused, discriminated against, harassed and assaulted. Too often the “T” gets excluded from LGBT initiatives and campaigns. We can’t have LGBT and queer justice without trans justice.

7. Health is another important issue that needs attention. There are significant disparities in health between heterosexual and LGBT people. 82% of heterosexual adults have health insurance compared to 77% of LBG adults and 57% of transgender adults. The expansion of access to health care in the United States should be a priority of the LGBT movement.

These are only a few issues that deserve attention. There are organizations that are focusing on these issues but they tend to be small and under sourced. The most funding goes to big groups like the Human Rights Campaign, who have a history of excluding trans people from their work.

It is time that the organizations and leaders who set the agenda for the mainstream LGBT movement start to prioritize the empowerment of the most marginalized groups: queers, trans, people of color, and individuals living in the South, Southeast and the Midwest.

Equality for LGBT People

Equality before the law is an American value articulated in our Constitution. The struggle for equal rights in the United States is a dilemma that has helped shape our society into what it is today. We are on the cusp of recognizing the inherent need for equality in more than just skin color, gender or religion. Our growing understanding of what it means to discriminate, and the damage it inflicts, is enhanced with each passing year and has grown to reflect our collective understanding of freedom for all. However, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people today are denied many of the basic rights that most Americans enjoy and continue to be treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

There has recently been successful movement forward in the areas of student non-discrimination, employment non-discrimination, hate crimes, immigration and LGBT partner benefits. The scale is tipping in our country toward the perception that LGBT people deserve equal human rights. Each of these areas of discrimination are addressed more in depth below.

Our nation's schools should be a place of study and social growth, preparing youth for the challenges of an ever-changing world. Unfortunately, students who are or perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender are discriminated against every day. These individuals are subject to harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence. Numerous studies have demonstrated that discrimination in schools has contributed to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. For a demographic that already faces higher than average suicide rates, it should be a top priority to engender a scholastic environment where every student can feel safe and encouraged. While current Federal statutes affords protected status to students on the basis of their race, gender, color, national origin, religion, and disability, they fail to provide civil protections explicitly based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Countless qualified and hardworking Americans are denied job opportunities, fired, or other wise discriminated against just because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Currently, there fails to be a federal law that consistently protects LGBT individuals from employment discrimination, and as a result, they face serious mistreatment in the work force. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. ENDA affords all Americans basic employment protection from discrimination based on irrational prejudice. It extends federal employment discrimination protections already in place for race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Hate crimes occur every day and in every state, perpetuating a climate of fear in minority communities--including the LGBT community. What makes these crimes so odious is that they are not just crimes against an individual; they are crimes against entire communities and the very values and ideals upon which our country was founded. Making matters worse, most local law enforcement agencies currently lack the necessary resources to effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

Right now, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses (and other immediate family members) for immigration purposes. However, same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents are not considered "spouses," and their partners cannot sponsor them for family-based immigration. 

In June 2009, President Obama called for equal employment benefits for federal employees and issued an executive memorandum that granted some benefits to employees' same-sex partners. It is time that the federal government steps up and recognizes the miscarriage of justice happening in its own backyard. A large and growing number of America's major corporations, as well as state and local governments and educational institutions, have extended their employee benefit programs to cover their employees' committed domestic partners. 

The fact that LGBT individuals are not allowed basic human rights is a concept that is rapidly changing in our country. Equality for all people is supposedly our given right in the Constitution. We live in an interesting time as the LGBT community finds its way toward protection from discrimination and inequality. We still have a long way to go. Hate toward us is still intense and grows in some states exponentially as rights are given. The general climate of the country seems to be becoming more accepting and open to equality for LGBTs. As equality and non-discrimination become more widely given we will be able live in this country more freely and safely.