Hate Against The LGBT Community

Open hostility against the LGBT community is less severe in the US than in many other countries, but unfortunately bullying, harassment, and sometimes even violence against people based on their real or perceived sexual orientation does occur. Whether or not you need to worry about harassment largely depends on where in the US you live. People living in rural areas and small towns as well as much of the South and the MidWest are known for being intolerant of LGBT individuals, whereas people in many big cities are known for being very open and accepting. 

General public acceptance of the LGBT community continues to increase each year, but a large proportion of the US population is still opposed to guaranteeing homosexuals equal rights in all areas of life. Unfortunately, these groups, which are usually religiously and politically conservative, generally show very strong opposition. Although the LGBT community continues to gain more rights each year and same-sex marriage is now legal in 18 states, a very vocal group continues to proclaim that the future of the American Family and the very natural order itself are threatened by these changes. 

Homophobia is a particularly troubling problem when it comes to LGBT youth. 8 out of 10 LGBT students report being bullied in school because of their sexual orientation. This can have devastating psychological effects then and later in life. The rights of transgender people are often less clearly defined by US laws, making gender discrimination on the basis of gender identity a prevalent problem in the courtroom, the workplace and schools.

Although most forms of discrimination in the US are nonviolent, there are over 1000 known hate groups in the US. These include neo-Nazis, white nationalists, border vigilantes, and black separatists. The Southern Poverty Law Center watches all these groups and other extremists and reports any illegal activity to the federal government. They also offer support to the victims of hate crimes and other forms of discrimination by these groups.

Members of the LGBT community are the most likely minority group to be a victim of a violent hate crime. Whenever a certain issue becomes very emotionally charged in the US, a spike in the number of hate crimes can be noticed.

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.

LGBT Challenges Ahead

The Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 ruling in favor of marriage equality, bringing into law the “fundamental right to marry” for same-sex couples across the United States was a landmark decision. The LGBT community and its allies had spent decades fighting for it and many feared it would never come.

Marriage equality supporters spent Pride weekend rejoicing. But the road to full equality remains long, and there are still many serious issues facing the LGBT community. The issues—violence, employment discrimination, poverty and health care—can be addressed now that marriage equality has been achieved.

Lesbian, gay and transgender people, especially those of color, experience violence at disproportionately high rates compared to heterosexuals. According to the FBI, bias against sexual orientation and gender identity accounted for more than 21% of hate crimes reported in 2013, with sexuality the second most common single-bias category following race. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found that while transgender survivors and victims represented only 19% of anti-LGBT violence reported to the organization, transgender women of color accounted for 50% of homicide victims. Seven transgender women of color were murdered in the United States during January and February (2015) alone, which is nearly a murder a week.

A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 21% of the LGBT adults surveyed said their employer treated them unfairly because of their sexuality or gender identity. Another report, authored the National Black Justice Coalition and other groups, found that nearly 50% of black LGBT people have experienced employment discrimination. Rates are significantly higher for transgender workers – some 90% of trans people have reported experiencing on-the-job harassment or mistreatment, while 47% said they were fired, not hired or denied a promotion because of their gender identity.

While 22 states have passed laws making job discrimination due to sexual orientation illegal – 19 also include gender identity – LGBT workers still lack federal protection. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, has been introduced in nearly every Congress since 1994, but the hotly contested federal bill didn’t make any headway until 2012, when the Senate for the first time passed the legislation. Still, it failed to make it to the president’s desk.

Research shows that anti-LGBT discrimination has harmful effects on LGBT workers’ economic wellbeing, leading to high rates of unemployment, homelessness, poor health and food insecurity. Pew found that LGBT workers are more likely to earn less annually compared to the general U.S. population. And the transgender discrimination survey found that trans respondents are nearly four times more likely to earn below $10,000 a year than the average American. A 2009 Williams Institute report also found that same-sex couples are two times more likely to live in poverty that different-sex couples, while single LGB adults are 1.2 times more likely to be poor than their straight counterparts.

Social and systematic discrimination, as well as inadequate health care access, contribute to health disparities for the LGBT community. According the Fenway Institute, LGBT people are more likely that straight people to report unmet health needs and have difficulty accessing care and obtaining insurance, when leads to higher rates of disease, chronic illness, drug use, mental illness and obesity among the population. These disparities are exacerbated for the transgender community. The Transgender Law Center found that, in the private market, the pervasiveness of gender identity discrimination in insurance, denial of insurance coverage and transgender-related health care exclusions keep transgender and gender non-conforming people from accessing medically necessary care such as mental health services, surgery and hormone therapy.