Two young women in high school are best friends, or so their families thought until they discovered that the duo were more than friends. The reaction of their families was strong and harsh. Both of these young women were thrown out of their homes by their parents because of who they are and who they love. It’s not an uncommon story and one that leads to many young LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning) people facing homelessness.

 “One of the major factors that contributes to homelessness and poverty for the LGBTQ population is family rejection. Such rejection also has a great impact on a person’s ability to afford a home. For older people, severed family ties can mean a lack of access to capital for a down payment, which is often cited as a major barrier to home ownership,” explains Luis A. Vasquez, Daniel H. Renberg Law Fellow at The Williams Institute, UCLA, School of Law. Vasquez is one of the authors, along with Adam P. Romero and Shoshana K. Goldberg, of the report LGBT People and Housing Affordability, Discrimination and Homelessness that was published by the Williams Institute in April 2020.

The Williams Institute report cites studies which have found that between 20 percent and 45 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, at least 2 to 4 times more than the estimated percentage of all youth who identify as LGBTQ. Among young adults aged 18 through 25, studies have found that LGBT people have a 2.2 times greater risk of homelessness than non-LGBT people.

The situation can be even more complicated for those identifying as transgender. Scott Havelka, director of programs and services, The LOFT LGBT Community Center in White Plains, New York, says, “Transgender people know early that they are not identifying with the gender they were assigned at birth. Some families are accepting, but others aren’t,” he says. “A younger person may have to hide the fact that they are transgender. That can lead to them having mental health issues, depression and suicidal ideations.”

Higher Odds of Poverty
Once a young person is on the streets fending for themselves, it also leads to less opportunity for education and a chance to gain skills that will lead to higher paying jobs that could lead to a more secure financial future.

The Williams Institute report found that LGBT adults, as a whole, have at least 15 percent higher odds of being poor than cisgender (personal and gender identity corresponds with birth sex) straight adults after controlling for age, race, urbanicity, employment status, language, education, disability, and other factors that affect risk of poverty.

In addition, many LGBTQ people face a stigma for being themselves. These stigmas along with  discrimination impact their financial welfare. “As one example, LGBT people are reporting employment discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientations and gender identities,” says Vasquez. “If someone loses their job due to being LGBT, it will directly impact their ability to pay rent, putting them at risk for homelessness, or to be able to save to buy a home.”

The statistics on home ownership among the LGBTQ  population versus the general population clearly show the disparity, as evidenced in findings presented in the Williams Institute report.

•    According to representative data from 35 states, nearly half (49.8 percent) of LGBT adults own their homes, compared to 70.1 percent of non-LGBT adults.
•    Homeownership is even lower among LGBT racial minorities and transgender people.
•    Same-sex couples are significantly less likely to own their homes than different-sex couples (63.8 percent and 75.1 percent, respectively).
•    Homeownership is higher among married couples than unmarried couples, but married same-sex couples are significantly less likely to own their homes than married different-sex couples (72 percent and 79.4 percent, respectively).

Age Does Not Protect
More mature LGBTQ people are also at risk of homelessness. “LGBT seniors are four times more likely than the general population to not have children, who traditionally take care of aging parents,” says Havelka. “They are also not as likely to have a partner. Many LGBT seniors are aging in isolation. We call our seniors regularly and they often say we are the only ones who call them. Some end up homeless because they can’t pay the rent or their bills. Seniors come in and say they are about to lose their home. We connect them to legal services. We want to keep them comfortable in their homes, but oftentimes people delay asking for help until it is a crisis.”

Cynthia B. Knox, CEO of Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP) agrees that the LGBT senior community has less support, “There is less family support due to a legacy of discrimination. Also, partners and friends die and then there is less support.”

While same-sex marriage is legal, there are still many LGBTQ couples who have not taken that step and it leaves them vulnerable to homelessness. “If one of the partners dies, the family who may have had no contact with the couple, because they did not acknowledge the relationship, may swoop in and take their home,” explains Havelka. “LGBTQ couples who opt not to get married still need to legally protect themselves.”

Different Needs
It comes as no surprise that LGBTQ people will have different needs than other populations and their experience with homeless shelters can be challenging. So much so that some people will choose to remain on the street.

 “Homelessness among LGBTQ people is not just about how to access shelter or food,” says Vasquez. “They also have to think about whether the shelter staff or residents will be violent or discriminatory towards them, especially if they are transgender. Some decide to stay on the street to avoid experiencing anti-LGBTQ stigma in shelters, which in turn contributes to the disproportionate rate of unsheltered homelessness among transgender people and can leave them vulnerable to other forms of victimization.”

Havelka notes that for their own safety some LGBTQ people will opt to go back into the closet when they are homeless. “It is a stigmatized identity that you don’t see like race, so LGBTQ people can hide for survival. However, it’s more difficult for transgender people. Shelters tend to be very gendered, meaning that they will put a transgender person in with others of the sex they were assigned at birth.”
In addition, there are very few shelters, that are specific to the needs of LGBTQ people. For homeless shelters to become more LGBTQ affirming it comes down to proper education of staff.

“Most shelters don’t know how to properly place or serve LGBTQ people,” affirms Vasquez. “Many LGBTQ people would rather face life on the streets than face discrimination. Service providers need to be educated on the scope of needs for everyone coming through their doors. That is needed on an organizational level. The staff needs to be fully versed on how to help, including knowing more about the experiences LGBTQ people have had in shelters and why it is that so many avoid these otherwise critical services due to fear of discrimination.”

CHHOP CEO, Knox notes that “LGBTQ issues are not prevalent in the homeless services provider community. The community has not focused on those issues. It’s really unfortunate that Westchester County, a community of almost one million people has no shelter dedicated to the needs of LGBTQ people.”

When LGBTQ people come to CHHOP for assistance, Knox says that staff members speak directly to the person to let them know that they are welcome. CHHOP then links them directly to LGBTQ services. “It is important to understand that being homeless and LGBTQ has an added layer of trauma. Homelessness has trauma associated with it and added discrimination exacerbates it,” Knox says, noting that CHHOP has a zero-tolerance policy for homophobia or any other discrimination.

Myth Busting
Another issue that presents a challenge is the stereotyping of LGBTQ people in the media. Television series often portray gay men in particular as having an upscale lifestyle. “There needs to be some myth busting,” says Vasvquez. “On television shows LGBT people are often portrayed as white-collar workers, perhaps even owning a townhouse and often going on vacations. In reality, the data shows us that LGBT people are actually more likely to be poor and less likely to be homeowners than their non-LGBT peers.”

Although dire, the situation is not entirely hopeless. The LGBTQ community can protect themselves both legally and in other ways.

Taking Action

The LOFT’s Havelka, says that one of the biggest actions that people can take is to develop a safety plan. “If your biological family turned their back on you, who is your family of choice? It can be a case worker or social worker who knows what is going on. The case worker or social worker can connect you to LGBT affirming organizations. Then you can connect with community members who went through what you are going through. They can explain how they survived and got out of homelessness. By hearing from others, you can then devise strategies that may work for you to survive and get out of homelessness. They can use each other as a support system and learn from each other.”
Now that same sex marriage is legal, Havelka notes that no matter what your opinion on marriage, it does come with legal rights and privileges that can protect LGBTQ couples and their right to remain in their home if something happens to one of them.

Vasquez notes that there is no formal legal protection against housing discrimination for LGBTQ people at the federal level. Instead there is a patchwork of different laws and regulations that can vary based on where you live. “At the federal level, it is illegal to engage in sex discrimination in housing. But that definition does not explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity, leaving it to courts to determine whether such protections exist and therefore leaving some across the country with no federal protections whatsoever. Some states and cities may have laws that fill this void, but this varies and some states have even affirmatively banned their cities from passing such protections. More is needed from Congress, to ensure there are explicit, national-level non-discrimination protections for LGBT people like there are for other vulnerable groups.”

In addition, Vasquez suggests becoming civically engaged to enact change. “When federal and state laws don’t help, cities and counties can help,” concludes Vasquez. “Folks can send in comments to their representatives at every level to have laws and regulations created to address what the data shows us is actually needed by the LGBTQ community.”

Resources

Following are links to resources for those  LGBTQ people who are experiencing homelessness.

http://www.lgbtlifewestchester.org/housing

 http://www.lgbtlifewestchester.org/legal_resources

Westchester's only LGBTQ specific homeless resource:

Hope Community Services The Refuge
50 Washington Ave.
New Rochelle, NY 10801
(914) 636-4010
www.hopecommunityservices.org  
 

The Refuge

The Refuge is a housing program specifically for LGBTQ youth between the ages of 18 and 24. It is Transitional Housing, which means clients are permitted to stay in the program for a maximum of 18 months. The program is person-centered and each client will have a goal and multiple case workers who will assist in reaching that goal. The youth will be referred for job training, vocational programs and completion of any high school or college. We have formed a partnership with WJC”s Center Lane and the LOFT. These agencies will provide both intensive case management and social interaction skills training for the clients.

Please contact Chris Rivera at (914) 355-5234 Ext. 1 or email him at crivera@hope-cs.org for details regarding qualifying requirements for this program.