Intersecting Injustice: A National Call to Action Addressing LGBTQ Poverty and Economic Justice for All EDITORS: Lourdes Ashley Hunter Trans Women of Color Collective

Ashe McGovern

Carla Sutherland The Vaid Group

AUTHORS: Lourdes Ashley Hunter Trans Women of Color Collective

Guillaume R. Bagal III Whitman-Walker Health

Juan Battle Social Justice Sexuality Project, Graduate Center, City University of

Frank J. Bewkes Center for American Progress

Sasha Buchert Lambda Legal

Tyrone Hanley National Center for Rights

Meghan Maury National LGBTQ Task Force

Ashe McGovern

Taissa Morimoto National LGBTQ Task Force

Carla Sutherland The Vaid Group

Urvashi Vaid The Vaid Group

PUBLISHER: Social Justice Sexuality Project Graduate Center, City University of New York

March, 2018

Suggested citation: Lourdes Ashley Hunter, Ashe McGovern, and Carla Sutherland, eds., Intersecting Injustice: Addressing LGBTQ Poverty and Economic Justice for All: A National Call to Action (New York: Social Justice Sexuality Project, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 2018).

Design © Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios / DesignEWS.com Acknowledgements

report of this nature would not have Institute); Diana Feliz Oliva (St. John’s Well Child been possible without the contribu- & Family Center); Ezak Perez ( Justice LA); tions of a large number of people Anna Leah Rick (California Rural Legal Assistance); who gave generously of their time, in Milton Smith (Connect to Protect – Aa variety of different ways, to shape and direct Children’s Hospital LA); Terry Smith (AIDS this work. The editorial collective would like to Project Los Angeles); Angela McNair Turner (Los acknowledge the contributions made by the Angeles Center for Law and Justice); Ena Suseth following people: Valladares (California Latinas for Reproductive Justice); Julia Wallace (LA LGBT Center); First and foremost, we wish to thank the Christopher Wilson-Smith (Black AIDS Institute). participants who came together at the various convenings at the start of the project. Where New York possible we have included institutional affili- Juan Battle (The Graduate Center, CUNY); Cathy ations of participants at the time of the meet- Bowman (Brooklyn Legal Services); Greyson ings. These are included to give a sense of the Brooks (LGBT Freedom and Asylum Network); breadth and depth of expertise and experiences Emma Caterine (Red Umbrella Project); Louis that we were able to draw on; however, it should Cholden-Brown (Office of Councilmember Corey be noted that the views contained in this report Johnson); Sean Coleman (Destination Tomorrow) should in no way be construed as the official Ezra Cukor ( Commission on Human views of the organizations listed below. Rights); Carrie Davis (LGBT Center); Lynn Faria (SAGE); Belkys Garcia (The Legal Aid Society, Los Angeles Civil Practice); Nicole Giannone (Ali Forney Daniel Ballin (Covenant House California); Center); Natasha Goykhberg (Callen Lorde LaDawn Best (Long Beach LGBTQ Center); Community Health Center); Jamila Hammami Robert Boller (Project Angel Food); Jeannette ( Detainee Project); John Bronson (Black United); Shirin Buckman Hellman (Boom! Health); Amber Hollibaugh (Commission on the Status of Women – LA); Ariel ( for Economic Justice); Pavita Krishnaswamy Bustamante (ACLU – Southern California); Oscar (South Brooklyn Legal Services); Paola Lebron De La O (Bienestar); Francisco Dueñas (Lambda (Make the Road, NY); Clem Lee (Immigration Legal – LA); Jennifer Epps-Addison (Liberty Hill Equality); Ben Maulbeck (Funders for LGBTQ Foundation); Daniel Flaming (Economic Issues); Ashe McGovern (Center for American Roundtable); Iyatunde Folayan; Donnie Hue Progress); Elana Redfield (NYC HRA); Laura Frazier III (AIDS Project Los Angeles); Amanda Redman (New York Lawyers for Public Interest); Goad (Inner City Law Center); Melissa Goodman Richard Saenz (Lambda Legal); Catherine (ACLU – Southern California); Ari GuKérrez Arám- Thurston (SAGE); Jay Toole (Jay’s House); Jason bul (Latino Equality Alliance); Malcom Harris Walker (Vocal NY); Kristna Wertz (Funders for (T.R.U.S.T. South LA); Marcus Hunter (UCLA LGBTQ Issues); Joe Westmacott (Safe Horizon Department of ); Drian Juarez Streetwork); Alisha Williams (Peter Cicchino ( Economic Empowerment Project Youth Project, Urban Justice). at L.A. LGBT Center); Audrey Kuo (API Equality – LA); Abbe Land (The Trevor Project); Amy S. Washington DC Lightstone (LA County Department of Public Mary Aab (ACCESS AIDS-Norfolk, VA - LGBT Health); Jim Mangia (St. John’s Well Child and Center); Guillaume Bagal III (Whitman-Walker Family Centers); Ayako Miyashita (Los Angeles Health); Lilly Bethany (Bazelon Center for Mental HIV Law & Policy Project); Hernan Molina (City Health Law); Daniel Bruner (Whitman-Walker of Los Angeles); Sergio J. Morales (Youth Policy Health); Joanna Cifredo (National Center for

1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Transgender Equality); June Crenshaw (Wanda Opportunities for Persons with AIDS); Juan Alston House); Karen Currie (Alternatives to del Hierro (Unity on the Bay); Rafael Jimenez Landlord Tenant Project); Tracy Davis (Bread (Planned Parenthood of South Florida/Palm for the City);Margaret Dominguez (Miriam’s Beach Care Resource); Brad Koogler (Safe Kitchen); Jhane Fletcher (SMYAL); George Garcia Schools South Florida); Aryah Lester (Trans-Miami); (Latin American Youth Center); George Gerr III Ilene Ochoa (Miami Bridge Youth & Family (Associates and SAGE Metro DC); Andrea Gleaves Services); Sean Rowley (Legal Services of Greater (DC Coalition against Domestic Violence); Miami); Paul Seligman (LGBTQ Community Kymberly Gordon (Damian Ministries); Sharra Advocate); Daniel Tilley (ACLU of Miami Florida); Greer (Children’s Law Center); Giulianni Kanisha Williams. Hardy-Gerena (Next Steps Public Charter New Orleans School); Olivia Hunt (Whitman-Walker Health); Shaena Fazal; Ming Nguyen (VAYLA); Jai Shavers Elliot E. Imse (DC Office of ); Carlo (BreakOUT); Nia Weeks (Women with a Vision). Izzo (Georgetown LGBTQ Resource Center); Luke S Jensen (UMD LGBT Equity Office); Kay-Lynn Oakland Jones (HIPS); Stanislaus Kahonde (Center Global); Judy Appel; Jess Bartholow; Anne Befu; Ginna Terrance Laney (DC Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Brelsford; Lizzie Buchen; Aisha Canfield; Sheryl Affairs); Regina Lawson (DC Child & Family Davis; Ethel; Daniel Faessler; Clair Farley; Teresa Services Agency); Mike Leon (Latin American Friend;Jennifer Friedbach; Andi Gentile; Youth Center); Amalya Lewin (Miriam’s Kitchen); Katherine Katcher; Jerel McCray; Jo Michaels; Pam Lieber (Sasha Bruce Youthwork); Erin Lisa Newstrom; Julie Nice; Endria Richardson; Loubier (Whitman-Walker Health); Rodney Ann Rubinstein; Aria Sa’id; Braz Shabrell; McCoy (Nova Salud); K Me (LGBTQ Resource Madeline Stano; Liza Thantranon; Amy Williams. Center at Georgetown and One DC); Lissette Miller (DC LGBT Center); Chris Obermeyer Baltimore (International Academy at Cardozo Onyeka Anaedozie; Kate Bishop; Jean-Michel Campus); Terrance Payton (Us Helping Us); Rev. Brevelle (DHMH); Lamont Bryant; Markton Cole; Dyan Abena McCray Peters (Unity Fellowship Peter DeMartino; Blair Franklin (STAR TRACK); Church); Amy Phillips (Public Defender Service); Greg King; Mannat Malik; Tori McReynolds; Vann Jasmine Phillips (HIPS); Nancy Polikoff (American Michael Millhouse (Black Trans Advocacy); University Washington College of Law); Manuel Merrick Moise; Rebecca Nagle; Ava Pipitone Diaz Ramirez (¡Empodérate! Youth Center (La (Baltimore Transgender Alliance); Doug Rose; Clinica)); Sheila Alexander Reid (DC Mayor’s Carlton Smith (Center for Black Equity); Jer Office of LGBTQ Affairs); Rick Rosendall ( and Welter (Free State Legal); Monica Yorkman (Sistas Lesbian Activists Alliance); Nic Sakurai (UMD of the ‘T’). LGBT Equity Office); Eric Scharf (Center Global at DC LGBT Center); Mykel Selph (Office of Juvenile Tracey Baim; Barb Bolson; Alonzo Brown; Patti Justice and Delinquency Prevention); Michael Capouch; Samuel Carrell; Claudia; Ramon Villafranca (Children’s Law Center); Brian Watson Gardenhire; Lisa Gilmore; Kim Hunt; Shirely (Propel Foundation Inc.); Evangeline Weiss Johnson; Chris Laird; Gregory Morrow; Wendy (National LGBTQ Task Force); Isaiah Wilson Pollack; Imani Rupert; Scott Schoettes; David (National Black Justice Coalition); Dr. Imani Sinski; Stan Sloan; Cassie Warren; Will Wilson. Woody (Mary’s House for Older Adults and SAGE Metro DC). Reflecting the challenges and expenses of organizing in rural areas, we were not able Miami to pull together a convening of activists and Jaime Bayo (Out Miami); Cindy Brown (Equality service providers who work primarily in rural Florida); Francesco Duberli (Survivors Pathway); areas. We are, however, grateful to the following Anna Frusciante (Lotus House); Gabriel Garcia-Vera people who were interviewed one on one: (National Latina Institute for Reproductive Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (Southern Health); Francisco Gomez (Manager Housing Equality Project); Sara Burlingame;

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Jay Irwin; Ruben Patlan; Kelsey Snapp; pro bono assistance from the Advisory Dr. Suegee Tamar-Mattis; Jacob Wilson. Board Company.

A special thank you is owed to the people who Many thanks also to Alex Kapitan for excellent contributed in a variety of ways to enable the copy editing that was done with enormous convenings to be organized, facilitated, and grace and skill under a very tight timeline. documented. These included a number of Lisa LaRochelle led a committed and patient “behind-the-scene” staff people and interns team at EWS (Emerson Wajdowicz Studio) to from the organizations that make up the Poverty add a professional design structure to our Collaborative and we would also like to written text. acknowledge their assistance: Kellan Baker; Jean-Michelle Brevelle; Tylor We offer our deep respect and gratitude to Brown; Carlos Camacho; Anthony Capote; Vanita Gupta for making the time to write a fore- Lisa Cisneros; KC Covington; Trishala Debb; word to our report. And to Ellen Buchman in her Laura Durso; Maryam Fikri; Naomi Goldberg; office for facilitating the process so graciously. Julie Gonen; Lauren Gray; Edwin Grimsley; Ashley King; Jaime Kruse; Madeline Lincoln; Funding for this project was provided by the Victor Lopez; Christy Mallory; Ruth McFarlane; Williams Institute, UCLA; the Ford Foundation; Steven Mion; Sabrina Rewald; Caitlin the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund; the Amy Rooney; Danielle Root; Cathy Sakimura; Mandel & Katina Rodis Fund; the Small Change Johanna Saunders; Bridget Schaaff, Stan Foundation; Funders for LGBTQ Issues Sloan; Steven Soto; Ilona Turner; Evangeline Finally, a major thank you to all the authors – Weiss; Ming Wong. who also formed the editorial collective who A number of people volunteered to review and have nursed and nourished this project through provide feedback on early drafts of individual to completion. These were: chapters, as well as the report as a whole. We are Lourdes Ashley Hunter (Trans Women deeply indebted to them for the strengthening of Color Collective); Guillaume R. Bagal of the report. They included: III (Whitman-Walker Health); Juan Battle (Social Justice Sexuality Project, Graduate Lee Badgett; Jessica Bartholow; Jean-Mi- Center, City University of New York); Frank chel Brevelle; Laura E. Durso; Blair Franklin; J. Bewkes (Center for American Progress); Nicole Giannone; Mannat Malik; Shabab Sasha Buchert (Lambda Legal); Tyrone Ahmed Mirza; Taissa Morimoto; Doug Rose; Hanley (National Center for Lesbian Rights); Richard Saenz (and other staff members at Meghan Maury (National LGBTQ Task Force); Lambda Legal); Will Thomas; Preston Van Ashe McGovern; Taissa Morimoto (National Vliet; Jason Walker; Jo Westmacott; Alisha LGBTQ Task Force); Carla Sutherland (The Williams; Bianca Wilson; Rachel West; and Vaid Group); Urvashi Vaid (The Vaid Group).

3 Preface

he LGBTQ Poverty Collaborative Project LGBTQ people are more likely than their peers has been years in the making. What to live in poverty—and, as a result, that LGBTQ began as a convening in Washington, poverty must be recognized and addressed as DC, in 2013 with several national the crisis it is. LGBTQT organizations turned into local conven- Although LGBTQ poverty and economic justice ings and focus groups in cities across the country has historically been ignored and pushed to with community members and advocates; the sidelines by government officials and even collaboration and input with organizations and many of our own community leaders and orga- individuals nationwide; and, ultimately, the nizations, we know that LGBTQ people across report that you are reading today. the country are living in poverty at dispropor- Initially, this report was imagined as an opportuni- tionately high rates, and that the policy and ty to make the case to a friendly federal adminis- programmatic interventions that have been tration that LGBTQ economic justice must be attempted thus far have not done enough. prioritized and centered in any efforts to end In this report, you will find detailed data on poverty or fight for LGBTQ equality and justice. experiences, sample policies, and programs And then the 2016 presidential election happened. that we hope will help highlight the need for As a result, this report was refocused and re- this shift in focus and prioritization toward imagined as a response to our current historical working to combat LGBTQ poverty. For example, moment, in which the federal government is research has shown that transgender people controlled by a deeply hostile administration are four times as likely to have a household that is actively seeking to dismantle programs income under $10,000 and twice as likely to and policies that took years to build—programs be unemployed as (non-transgen- and policies that have tangibly benefitted der) people in the United States.1 Existing data LGBTQ communities, communities of color, reveal that while LGBTQ people tend to have low-income communities, and those who exist received more education, on average, than the at the intersection of these communities. This is general population, they make less money than also a moment, however, where a new energy their non-LGBTQ counterparts.2 Indicators of has emerged to critically reconsider how policies economic disparities including food insecurity, and programs aimed at addressing poverty and housing instability, low-wage earning potential LGBTQ justice have not fully addressed the struc- and capacity, and unemployment or under-em- tural inequality that has led us to this current ployment are all heightened for LGBTQ commu- historical moment. State, local, and national nities.3 Where identities and injustices intersect, advocates are primed to resist and fight back— on the basis of race, age, ability, immigration by reimagining what justice really looks like, in status, , and , a variety of intersecting contexts—and we hope the vulnerabilities and disparities are even more this document, and ongoing efforts to build stark—with LGBTQ people of color being most upon it, can assist in those efforts. consistently vulnerable to disparate treatment and outcomes across the board. With this report, we aim to provide supportive federal, state, and local government officials and Mirroring broader patterns of poverty in the community advocates across the country with United States, LGBTQ people of color— particularly concrete programmatic and policy suggestions transgender and gender nonconforming to meaningfully address LGBTQ poverty and people of color—experience the highest rates economic justice. We also aim to make the case of poverty, , and violence.4 Black clearly, with data and collective stories, that same-sex couples are significantly more likely to

4 PREFACE

live in poverty than other Black married couples LGBTQ people experience vulnerability all and are roughly three times more likely to live across the lifespan, from childhood to older age. in poverty than white same-sex couples.5 In the Research has revealed that one in five children area of food insecurity, thirty-seven percent of being raised by same-sex couples are living Black LGBTQ individuals experienced a time in below the poverty level.10 This is particularly true the last year when they did not have enough in households where both partners are people money to feed themselves or their family. While of color. LGBTQ young people—who are often transgender people overall are more than twice kicked out of their homes as a result of family as likely as the general U.S. population to be rejection, or must leave in order to survive—are living in poverty, trans people of color are three especially vulnerable to economic disparities, times as likely as the general U.S. population to by being forced into homelessness or placed be living in poverty—and the unemployment into foster care at very high rates.11 On the other rate among trans people of color is four times end of the age spectrum, LGBTQ elders are more higher than the average U.S. unemployment likely than their non-LGBTQ peers to rely on rate.6 Similarly, rates of violence and criminaliza- non-biological peer family support and caretak- tion—while higher for LGBTQ communities over- ing as they age—leaving them generally more all than non-LGBTQ communities—is particularly vulnerable to poverty, housing instability, and a high for LGBTQ communities of color, specifically number of negative health outcomes.12 trans communities of color.7 Although no report could present a complete More than one in four LGBTQ individuals—ap- picture of LGBTQ poverty, and we acknowledge proximately 2.4 million people—experienced that this report has several limitations, we are at- a period over the last year when they did not tempting to raise and uplift these issues so that have enough money to feed themselves or their organizations working on behalf of LGBTQ com- family, as compared to eighteen percent of non- munities actively prioritize the needs of those LGBTQ individuals.8 Forty-three percent of LGB of us who are living in poverty, and that poverty adults aged eighteen to forty-four who are rais- and economic justice organizations incorporate ing children live in poverty, and approximately and center the needs of LGBTQ communities 650,000 LGBTQ people participate in the Supple- in their work as well. We view this as a living, mental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). A growing document, and one that is far from survey of people experiencing homelessness in complete. We hope, however, that the informa- revealed that twenty-nine percent tion provided within this report can help inform, (at all age levels) identified themselves as gay, educate, and empower policy makers to act now lesbian, bisexual, or transgender and it has and act boldly. We also hope, perhaps most im- been estimated that as many as forty percent of portantly, that this report inspires government, homeless young people identify as LGBTQ.9 nonprofit and private actors to directly fund and support the vital work that LGBTQ people living in poverty are themselves engaged in, on behalf of their communities across the country.

5 PREFACE

BASIC U.S. POVERTY STATISTICS13

POVERTY

Overall Poverty Rate Half the Poverty Level (40.6 million people) (18.5 million people) Percentage of people living below Percentage of people living below 12.7% the poverty line—in 2016, this was 5.8% half the poverty line—in 2016, this $24,340 for a family of four was $12,170 for a family of four

Child Poverty Rate Women’s Poverty Rate (13.3 million people) (22.9 million people) Percentage of children under age 18 Percentage of women and girls living 18.0% living below the poverty line in 2016 14.0% below the poverty line in 2016

African American Poverty Rate Hispanic Poverty Rate (9.2 million people) (11.1 million people) Percentage of who Percentage of Hispanics living below 22.0% fell below the poverty line in 2016 19.4% the poverty line in 2016

White Poverty Rate Native American Poverty Rate (17.3 million people) (700,000 people) Percentage of non-Hispanic white Percentage of Native Americans living 8.8% people living below the poverty line 26.2% below the poverty line in 2016 in 2016

People with Disabilities Poverty Rate (4.1 million people) Percentage of people with disabilities These statistics come from Talk Poverty, a project of the Center for American Progress. 26.8% ages 18 to 64 living below the CAP is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute. poverty line in 2016 For updated information, see https://talkpoverty.org/poverty/

CREATING GOOD JOBS

Unemployment Rate14 Unemployment Percentage of all workers who were Insurance Coverage15 unemployed in 2016 Percentage of unemployed workers 4.9% 26.7% who received unemployment insurance in 2016

Continued 

6 PREFACE

PROMOTING FAMILY ECONOMIC SECURITY

Overall Poverty Rate16 Affordable and Available Housing17 (40.6 million people) Number of apartments or other units Percentage of people living below that were affordable and available 13.0% the poverty line—in 2016, this was 55.0% for every 100 renter households $24,340 for a family of four with very low incomes in 2015. Very low-income households are those with incomes at or below 50% of the area median income

Savings and Assets18 Lack of Health Insurance Coverage19 Percentage of households that used Percentage of people under age 65 high-cost, high-risk forms of credit and below 138% of the poverty line 7.7% to make ends meet during 2015. This 17.4% who did not have health insurance at includes payday loans, automobile any time in 2016 title loans, refund anticipation loans, rent-to-own, and pawning

MEASURING POVERTY20 There’s no single agreed method on defining and U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics measuring poverty. Here In the United States, the developed the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which Official Poverty Measure has been used for more than differs from the Official Poverty Measure in four fifty years. It has its roots in the U.S. Department of key respects: Agriculture food consumption survey that set out a  It accounts for regional cost of living differences; subsistence diet and budget. The Official Poverty  It includes the value of non-cash assistance to the Measure builds off this, taking the cost of a poor, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance subsistence diet and multiplying it by three with the Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) rationale being that the provision of food uses about and Section 8 housing vouchers; one-third of the income of people living in poverty.  It calculates expenses incurred by the working poor, such as transportation and child care as well In 2016, a family of four making less than $24,250 was as out-of-pocket medical costs; and considered below the poverty line.  It is a relative measure of poverty, based on the However, the Official Poverty Measure ignores the thirty-third percentile of national expenditures effect of differences in the cost of living, depending on necessity items versus an absolute measure on where people are residing and working. Hence, the of poverty.

NOTES

1 Sandy E. James et al., The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Political Attitudes of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals (New York, NY: Survey (Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Hunter College, The City University of New York, 2008). Equality, 2016), http://www.ustranssurvey.org/reports. 3 Movement Advancement Project, Paying an Unfair Price: The 2 M. V. Lee Badgett, Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Financial Penalty for Being LGBT in America, November 2014, Lives of Lesbians and (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago http://www.lgbtmap.org/file/paying-an-unfair-price-full-report.pdf. Press, 2001); Rhonda J. Factor and Esther D. Rothblum, “A Study 4 of Transgender Adults and Their Non-transgender Siblings on Center for American Progress and Movement Advancement Demographic Characteristics, Social Support, and Experiences of Project, Paying an Unfair Price: The Financial Penalty for LGBT Violence,” Journal of LGBT Health Research 3, no. 3 (2007): 11–30; People of Color in America, April 2015, http://www.lgbtmap.org/ and Patrick J. Egan, Murray S. Edelman, and Kenneth Sherrill, policy-and-issue-analysis/unfair-price--people-of-color. Findings from the Hunter College Poll: New Discoveries about the 5 Angeliki Kastanis and Bianca Wilson, Race/Ethnicity, Gender and

7 PREFACE

Socioeconomic Wellbeing of Individuals in Same-Sex Couples (Los williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/safe-schools-and-youth/ Angeles: The Williams Institute, 2014), https://williamsinstitute. lafys-aug-2014/. law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/ 12 census-comparison-feb-2014/. Movement Advancement Project and SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders, Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Older 6 James et al., Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Adults, 2017, http://www.lgbtmap.org/policy-and-issue-analysis/ understanding-issues-facing-lgbt-older-adults. 7 Jason Lydon, of Concrete Closets: A Report on Black & Pink’s National LGBTQ Prisoner Survey (Boston: Black & Pink, 2015), 13 All poverty rate data are from Jessica L. Semega, Kayla R. http://www.blackandpink.org/wp-content/upLoads/Coming- Fontenot, and Melissa A. Kollar, Income and Poverty in the United Out-of-Concrete-Closets.-Black-and-Pink.-October-21-2015.. States: 2016 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2017), https://www. pdf; Center for American Progress and Movement Advancement census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/ Project, Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails demo/P60-259.pdf. Exception is data for Native Americans, LGBT People, February 2016, 69, https://www.lgbtmap.org/ which can be found at U.S. Census Bureau, Selected Population file/lgbt-criminal-justice-poc.pdf; and Emily Waters, Lesbian, Profile in the United States: 2016 American Community Survey Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected Hate 1-year Estimates, (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016), http:// Violence in 2016 (New York: National Coalition of Anti-Violence factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_1YR/S0201// Programs, 2017), https://avp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ popgroup~006. NCAVP_2016HateViolence_REPORT.pdf. 14 Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Local Area Unemployment 8 Gary J. Gates, “LGBT People Are Disproportionately Food Statistics”, 2016, https://www.bls.gov/lau/lastrk16.htm. Insecure,” The Williams Institute, February 2014, https:// 15 williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/health-and-hiv-aids/lgbt- Employment and Training Administration, Unemployment people-are-disproportionately-food-insecure/. Insurance Chartbook (U.S. Department of Labor, 2017), https:// ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook.asp. 9 Erica Goode, “For Gay Community, Finding Acceptance 16 Is Even More Difficult on the Streets, The New York Times, Alisha Coleman et al., Household Food Security in the United December 2, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/us/ States in 2016, No. 237, (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2016), for-gay-community-finding-acceptance-is-even-more-difficult- https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84973/err-237. on-the-streets.html; and Choi, S.K., Wilson, B.D.M., Shelton, J., pdf?v=42979. & Gates, G., Serving Our Youth 2015: The Needs and Experiences 17 National Low Income Housing Coalition, The Gap (2017), http:// of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Gap-Report_2017.pdf. Experiencing Homelessness (Los Angeles: The Williams Institute with True Colors Fund, 2015), https://truecolorsfund.org/ 18 Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, “Custom Data wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Serving-Our-Youth-June-2015.pdf Table Tool: Alternative financial services”, https://www. economicinclusion.gov/custom-data/index.html. 10 M. V. Lee Badgett, Laura E. Durso, and Alyssa Schneebaum, New Patterns of Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual 19 U.S. Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage Status by Community (Los Angeles: The Williams Institute, 2013), Ratio of Income to Poverty: American Community Survey 1-year https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt- Estimates (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016), http:// demographics-studies/lgbt-poverty-update-june-2013/; and factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview. Christa Price et al., eds., At The Intersections: A Collaborative Report xhtml?pid=ACS_16_1YR_C27016&prodType=table. on LGBTQ Youth Homelessness, (New York and Washington, DC: True Colors Fund and the National LGBTQ Task Force, 2016), 20 For a full discussion please see https://www.census.gov/topics/ http://attheintersections.org/. income-poverty/supplemental-poverty-measure/about.html.

11 Bianca D.M. Wilson et al., Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Foster Care: Assessing Disproportionality and Disparities in Los Angeles (Los Angeles: The Williams Institute, 2014), https://

8 Foreword Vanita Gupta

ntersecting Injustice arrives at a moment when The injustice was devastating. Dozens of lives hard-won gains toward legal equality for were destroyed and a community was torn apart LGBTQ people are under aggressive counter- based on the word of an officer who had been attack. Social safety net programs that provide investigated for misconduct and racial bias. It Ia threadbare lifeline to millions of vulnerable took lawyers and activists years to secure par- people in the United States are facing harsh dons and a measure of justice for our clients. It budget constraints and—even worse—an ideo- was a case of racism and official misconduct, but logical attack on their very existence. It is a chal- it was also a study in how quickly lives can spiral lenging time to call for attention to the reality of out of control for people with little income. devastating poverty within LGBTQ communities. Years later, when I was at the U.S. Department But I believe that the current political moment of Justice, I worked to bring attention to the gives us an opportunity to directly engage unjustifiable and frequently unconstitutional people in the United States on how we are treatment of poor people. I was proud to lead falling short of the promises of living our values the department’s Civil Rights Division during of equality and opportunity. the administration of President Barack Obama; we worked hard to move the nation closer to Securing these promises for everyone in this its ideals—a long-term project that individuals country has long been the work of The Leader- and groups have been engaged in throughout ship Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and this country’s history. Today, tragically and it is work that is deeply personal to me. I am the unfortunately, the Justice Department is led by daughter of immigrants who were drawn here Jeff Sessions, who is trying to reverse progress by the promise of opportunity. My husband’s toward LGBTQ equality and resurrect policies family fled violence in Vietnam and found refuge that effectively criminalize poverty. And while here. The promise of equality encouraged my these grave circumstances are in no way easy sister to come out as a lesbian, and I try to do ev- to deal with, I am proud that The Leadership erything in my power to justify her faith that in Conference is mobilizing to take action against this country she will continue to be able to live these challenges. and love as she chooses, freely and without fear. One possible response to the political assaults Many people who have not experienced poverty now facing LGBTQ communities would be a do not understand the ways in which it limits defensive retrenchment focused on holding on people’s choices and leaves them vulnerable. to recent gains. But this report points toward Early in my career as a civil rights attorney, I another possible response. We can expand fought for the freedom of dozens of people from our awareness of the ways that people in our a single Texas town—mostly African Ameri- communities were being marginalized even cans and a few white and Latino people whose before the latest political setbacks, and we partners were African American, almost all of can seek ways forward that are grounded in a whom were living in or near poverty—who were commitment to solidarity with those who live convicted by predominantly white juries and in intersections of identity that place them at sentenced to decades in prison based on the heightened risk, including LGBTQ people who testimony of a single shoddy undercover agent. are women, people of color, transgender, and/or A local newspaper reported on the “sting” in elders. We know that no community is mono- 1999 under the headline “Tulia Streets Cleared lithic, and that we should strive to recognize of Garbage.” this fact not just in theory but also in practice so

9 FOREWORD

that everyone has multiple ways in which their to do their part to try to create an America that personal identity can present opportunities for truly is as good as its ideals. We must stand up organizing and fighting back. against the irresponsibility of those who would use economic distress as a tool to pit whole Intersecting Injustice documents the extent to communities against each other. which the portrayal of LGBTQ people in popular culture and in the public imagination—and even The work of The Leadership Conference for more the understanding of LGBTQ people within civil than half a century has demonstrated over and and human rights movements—is distorted and over again that it is possible to build strong incomplete. This report offers a fuller under- coalitions that advance justice and decency. standing of the complexities of U.S. culture We are seeing the progress that we have made by centering the voices of people who live in slow down or, worse yet, be reversed with the poverty and those who work directly with them. tenure of Jeff Sessions and others in the current Importantly, this report provides alternatives to presidential administration. But in the long run, despair by highlighting promising practices and they will not be able to undo our progress, be- specific policy proposals around which commu- cause as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded nities can organize. us, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. At the Justice Department, and now at The Leadership Conference, I have been motivated Making that kind of progress requires persistent by the simple truth that all people deserve to be action that draws on deep reservoirs of hope treated with dignity and respect. Everyone de- and resilience, the kind of resilience demonstrat- serves the opportunity to thrive—to learn, earn ed by the hundreds of people who lent their a living, prosper, love deeply and freely, and live voices to Intersecting Injustice. The Leadership in a safe and decent place. Conference and I welcome this contribution to our larger movement’s shared knowledge and The Leadership Conference believes that all strength and celebrate the resource that is this those who share this vision have a responsibility terrific report.

10 Executive Summary

The Vision ple marginalized identities continue to be shut out from the services and supports we need. It’s been nearly fifty years since the Stonewall uprising, a series of demonstrations in New York In order to meaningfully meet the needs of our City led by the most marginalized members of community, it is vital to prioritize racial and LGBTQ communities—among them a number economic justice. This report is meant to help of fierce transgender people of color, young coordinate that prioritization across the LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness, gender non- movement. By collating the stated priorities conforming women, and men engaged in sex of activists, advocates, service providers, and work. The uprising grew out of our community’s LGBTQ people living in poverty across the United frustration at being forced into dark corners and States, we’ve provided a roadmap for those look- erased from mainstream society. In the decades ing to deepen their understanding of how to since, many advocates have stood on the shoul- advocate effectively for LGBTQ economic justice. ders of those who rose up at Stonewall, building community and fighting for the needs of people The Process living at the intersections of multiple marginal- ized identities. As a small network of advocates, most of whom are focused on advocacy at the federal level, we At the same time, other LGBTQ advocates have knew we wanted to center the voices and needs cultivated an image of our community that is of LGBTQ people who are living in poverty and wealthy, white, male, and monogamously part- people who are directly providing services to low- nered. This intentional cultivation was in some part income LGBTQ people. Here’s how we did that: a response to conservative attacks on our com- n We hosted eight convenings in cities across munity that painted us as anti-family, but in equal the country where there is both high econom- parts it was a call to our community to assimilate ic inequality and a high proportion of LGBTQ into the cultural norms defined by our detractors people. At each convening, we invited local and a perpetuation of racism and class bias. activists, advocates, and service providers to join us, and asked them to bring along the The reality of our community belies this carefully local leaders they thought would want to share curated image. U.S. LGBTQ communities have their expertise—whether that expertise derived seen some remarkable gains in the half century from lived experience or from their work. since Stonewall, yet for the most marginalized in n We spoke to focus groups of people in rural our community, much has remained the same. areas who are LGBTQ and living in poverty or LGBTQ people—especially LGBTQ people of working with LGBTQ people living in poverty, color and transgender and gender nonconform- to hear how experiences differ in rural areas. ing people—are more likely to be living at or n In all, we spoke to over two hundred people; near the poverty level. We have more need for more than thirty of them have continued to social safety net programs, like Medicaid, Sup- be involved in the writing, editing, and review plemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), process for this report. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), n Input from the convenings and focus groups Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and was incredibly varied and nuanced, but sev- employment and housing programs, yet we face eral themes developed that were echoed at pervasive discrimination when attempting to nearly every session. We used those themes access such programs. We lack explicit and to organize the sections of this report. We broad nondiscrimination protections at the did our best to include all of the information federal level, and even where those protections that we received at the convenings and focus exist, people living at the intersections of multi-

11 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

groups in the report, then filled in details Using This “Call to Action” both by researching and by following up with The guide is separated into nine chapters, using participants for additional information. the themes that were lifted up by participants n Once a draft was written, we shared it with during the convenings and focus groups. The all participants who were interested in chapters, explained in more detail below, are: providing feedback, then integrated feedback n Jobs and Working Conditions wherever possible. n Social Services and Benefits n This report is the final product of this process, n Housing and Homelessness but we recognize that even with more than n Schools and Education three hundred contributors, there are signif- n Health and Wellness icant gaps in our information. We hope that n Hunger and Food Security this document will be part of a living movement n The Criminalization of Poverty that continues to adjust its priorities over n Financial Inclusion and Exclusion time in response to changed experiences in n Federal Economic Policy our community. In each of these chapters you’ll find an overview The Values of the issue area, explaining how LGBTQ people are disproportionately impacted and differently Throughout the convenings and focus groups, impacted; promising practices and programs the report drafting process, and the review identified by participants in the convenings process, we kept the following values in mind: and focus groups; stories of people who have a n Centering the experience and needs of people lived experience related to the issue area; and who are most impacted by poverty, including concrete policy recommendations to help guide people of color, people with disabilities, immi- advocacy at federal, state, and local levels. grant communities, youth and elders, people in rural communities, transgender and gender Each chapter is meant to be useful as a stand- nonconforming people, families, currently and alone document, but effective economic justice formerly incarcerated people, people living advocacy can’t be accomplished in silos. From with HIV/AIDS, people engaged in the sex a practical perspective, if a person living in trade, and people experiencing homelessness. poverty experiences food security but can’t n Recognizing the difference that geography access housing or work, economic justice has plays in the experience of living in poverty not been achieved. (e.g., urban vs. suburban vs. rural, cold We urge you to explore the full report and to weather vs. warm weather, and progressive vs. especially consider issue areas that you haven’t conservative local and state governments). begun to include in your advocacy. n Elevating the resilience of marginalized communities. In solidarity, n Remembering that we can’t wait: Our process The LGBTQ Poverty Collaborative will be imperfect, but we must move forward because people who are living in poverty can- not wait for us to create the perfect agenda.

12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Overview of Chapters and and must occur in tandem to conversations Recommendations about dismantling state-sanctioned violence, white supremacy, capitalism, neocolonialism, Introduction anti-Blackness, , and more, and be Trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary led by those most disproportionately impacted. Black and Brown people are disproportionately n The voices, experiences, and leadership of impacted by high rates of homelessness, trauma, poor people are not here to be commodified, criminalization, under-employment and incarcer- exploited, or tokenized. Poor people must be ation, which is inextricably linked to chronic pov- paid for their labor. erty and reinforced by state-sanctioned violence. n Those in our community with access and resources must understand what that looks Structural systems of oppression reinforced by like, recognize how that power works, and state-sanctioned violence create insurmountable toil everyday to leverage spaces that affirm, financial conditions and violent realities for celebrate, and encourage meaningful engage- Black and Brown trans people, who are often ment that builds sustainable socioeconomic disowned from family and community and dis- growth and development in Black and Brown proportionately impacted by higher rates of trans communities. homelessness, poverty, and underemployment. n We cannot solve poverty without also ad- These conditions force many to engage in dressing white supremacy, housing insecurity, life-threatening activities in order to survive. hunger, trauma, violence, discrimination, Most times these life-threatening activities neocolonialism, transphobia, anti-Blackness, place Black trans women under heightened classism, and more. These issues work in levels of police contact that criminalizes their tandem to reinforce each other, therefore we mere existence. must work collectively to dismantle them all. Cisgender queer folk bask in the sunlight of Those who benefit from them must be on the complicity as benefactors, gatekeepers, and front line tearing them down. enforcers of state-sanctioned violence. If n Trust that Black and Brown trans people know cisgender queer folk are truly invested in exactly what they need to thrive. Believe Black collective liberation, dialogs, policies, and and Brown trans folk when they tell you actions that serve to address poverty must go their experience. Listen, learn, and follow the beyond intersectionality to a space of a linear leadership of Black and Brown trans people. perspective that examines all the intersections Jobs and Working Conditions of violence our communities face happening Discrimination affects every aspect of employ- at the same time and in real time. ment for LGBTQ people, including barriers to We must work from a place where we aim to getting hired and asserting employee rights. develop sustainable solutions for ending poverty This is especially true for transgender people, that also dismantle white supremacy, capitalism, immigrants, and people with criminal records. patriarchy, settler colonialism, neoliberalism, When applying for a job, documentation and transphobia, and fatphobia, all while acknowl- background check requirements automatically edging who has access and how that access bar many LGBTQ people from getting a fair must be leveraged to create opportunities for shot at the job application process. In addition, Black and Brown trans bodies to thrive. employer discrimination against LGBTQ people prevents many from being hired. Even when We must also acknowledge the ways race, class, LGBTQ people are hired, between fifteen and gender, ability/disability, and other factors forty-three percent of LGBTQ workers report impact how poverty shows up in our lives and in experiencing discrimination while on the job, with the lives of our community members. even higher numbers among transgender workers. Recommendations from this section include: For a variety of reasons, including fear of n Meaningful conversations about poverty harassment, getting fired, or being reported for must be rooted in sustainable solutions

13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

lacking documentation, LGBTQ people often accommodations, shelter services, health, cannot assert their rights as workers, which can employment, and housing, and must mandate create dangerous and toxic work environments. cultural humility training for service providers Without the ability to access worker rights and and public benefits enrollment staff. In addition, protections, LGBTQ workers are vulnerable to in order to be most effective all nondiscrimi- harassment, threats, and assault from employers nation protections must—at a minimum—be and other employees, since many feel unsafe inclusive of race, disability, language access, using existing reporting mechanisms. sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression, and must ensure the protection of Recommendations in this section include: nonbinary and gender nonconforming people. n Advance nondiscrimination protections for All public benefits programs must also be fully LGBTQ people in all levels of government and funded, with adequate budgets for mandatory defeat anti-equality measures. competency training. n Invest in LGBTQ communities to ensure that LGBTQ people have access to jobs and create Recommendations in this section include: one-stop career centers that prioritize helping n Legal nondiscrimination protections must LGBTQ people get hired. center and prioritize the needs of LGBTQ n Develop and implement policies that foster people living in poverty and LGBTQ inclusive, discrimination-free workplaces. communities of color. n Government legislatures and agencies should Social Services and Benefits create free, easy, and equal access to important As a result of systemic discrimination and identity documents for those who face barriers inequity, LGBTQ people—especially those who in accessing them—including transgender are people of color, transgender, and/or gender people, people with criminal records, nonconforming—are more likely to need access immigrants, and those who are or who have to public benefits such as social security bene- been homeless. fits, disability benefits, SNAP benefits, and public n Social and legal services providers must be housing. Ironically, application and eligibility LGBTQ-inclusive, and center the accessibility requirements, coupled with discriminatorily of their services to low-income LGBTQ applied discretion on the part of enrollment communities. officers, means that these benefits are out of n LGBTQ communities face unique barriers in reach for some of the people who need them most. accessing public benefits and those barriers Transgender and gender nonconforming should be addressed and removed. people, immigrants, and people experiencing Housing and Homelessness homelessness or housing instability may have LGBTQ people, especially those who are difficulty accessing identity documents, making people of color, transgender, and/or gender access to all public benefits more difficult. nonconforming, are disproportionately likely to Eligibility requirements sometimes categorically experience homelessness and housing instability exclude people with criminal records, especially —as much as forty percent of young people people who have a history of drug or sex offenses. without stable housing may identify as LGBTQ Furthermore, narrow definitions of family in or gender nonconforming. Exiting housing eligibility policies for public benefits can also instability may be particularly difficult for LGBTQ exclude members of an LGBTQ person’s family people, who lack nondiscrimination protections from eligibility for public benefits. in housing in many states. Accessing programs is In order to improve access to public benefits even more challenging for people with criminal for LGBTQ people and their families, federal and records and people with disabilities. state governments must adopt inclusive non- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban discrimination policies that center the needs of Development (HUD) does include nondiscrimi- low-income LGBTQ people and LGBTQ people of nation protections inclusive of sexual color. These policies must encompass public orientation and gender identity in its housing

14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

and homelessness programs. However, even experiencing homelessness, who often rely on where housing protections do exist, homelessness schools as a place of reprieve and safety. programs and public housing programs—such Understandably, young LGBTQ people often as housing choice vouchers and the Housing fight back against injustices or do not come Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program— to school because of the hostile environment, are critically underfunded and lack sufficient which make them vulnerable to interaction units to meet the needs of the community. with police and the criminal legal system. Since Housing and homelessness programs that LGBTQ people disproportionately experience center the needs of LGBTQ people and others homelessness and truancy is illegal many states, who live at the intersections of multiple young LGBTQ people are more likely to interact marginalized identities have been more success- with the criminal legal system. ful in shifting outcomes. For example, community Recommendations in this section include: investments in “housing first” programs, n Eliminate barriers to educational programs cooperative housing ownership, and community based on criminal record, access to land trusts have resulted in improved access documentation, and economic status. to housing and have started to reverse decades n Address the school-to-prison pipeline by erad- of segregation. icating school-based policing, zero-tolerance Recommendations in this section include: school disciplinary policies, and other “push- n Federal and state governments should out” policies that result in an increased risk of adopt comprehensive homeless bill of rights involvement in the criminal legal system. measures that include protections against n Increase collaboration and coordination be- discrimination based on housing status, tween schools and mental, social, and health disability, sexual orientation, and gender service providers in communities, in order to identity or expression. address all aspects of young people’s health n The presidential administration and local and well-being. governments should allocate more funds to n Decouple school funding from real estate tax- housing programs, as research finds that es and impose a school funding system that is stable housing is crucial to a person’s access equitable in every jurisdiction. to employment, health services, and other Health and Wellness types of support. There are profound health differences between n HUD should continue and improve on pilot people living in poverty and those who are not. programs that focus on wraparound services Poverty is a social determinant of health often and strengthen the Continuum of Care Program. associated with an increased risk of a variety of n HUD should prioritize providing homelessness health issues, including cardiovascular disease, assistance funds to communities that employ diabetes, cancer, mental health and behavioral alternative tactics to the criminalization and health conditions, and other chronic conditions. policing of homelessness. These health disparities are intensified for Schools and Education people living in poverty who are transgender Schools represent a place where many young and/or people of color because the disparities people spend most of their upbringing, making are rooted in additional stigma and discrimination. it an especially influential and critical space for For these reasons, it is vital to adopt a holistic a young person’s development. Yet schools are approach to care, improve access to care a hostile environment for many young LGBTQ services, and lower the cost of health insurance. people, especially those living in rural areas and LGBTQ people living in poverty disproportionately in low-income neighborhoods. Young LGBTQ face barriers in accessing health care, including people experience higher levels of and stigma, discrimination, lack of money, harassment, harassment in schools than their non-LGBTQ and mistreatment. These issues are exacerbated peers. This is particularly damaging for young for people who are incarcerated and people LGBTQ people who are bullied at home or are

15 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

who live in rural areas, who are further limited in of reasons, including a lack of education accessing affordable and culturally competent surrounding eligibility, concern about immi- health-care services. gration status, and low levels of LGBTQ cultural competency among government employees. Recommendations in this section include: n Advocate for a more holistic approach to Recommendations in this section include: care that considers all social determinates of n Implement community garden cooperative health, including socioeconomic status, physi- initiatives, “gleaning” programs, and food de- cal environment, and social support networks. livery initiatives as ways to reduce structural n Increase access to affordable medication, barriers in accessing healthy food and water. community programs, housing opportunities, n Improve, expand, and maintain important food- and culturally competent medical services for assistance programs such as SNAP, TANF, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits. n Address barriers in accessing health care by n Increase LGBTQ people’s access to food-related increasing the number of free mobile clinics assistance programs by addressing eligibility, and testing centers, increasing insurance immigration, and cultural competency concerns. coverage for unemployed and under- The Criminalization of Poverty employed people, and clarifying confusing LGBTQ people and people living with HIV/AIDS, insurance policies. especially LGBTQ people of color, are dispro- Hunger and Food Security portionately impacted by laws and policies that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights criminalize people for activities resulting from includes the right to food that is accessible or associated with poverty and addiction, such both physically and economically. The right to as the criminalization of homelessness, the accessible food is not achieved in the United criminalization of underground economies, and States, where more than twenty-three million the so-called war on drugs. Laws and policies people live in low-income areas that are consid- that reduce poverty and make housing, health ered “food deserts,” or places without access to care, and drug treatment more available reduce affordable, quality, nutritious foods. This often criminalization in these populations. leads to health disparities associated with poor LGBTQ people face significant discrimination by nutrition. Since LGBTQ people of color report law enforcement and other actors in the criminal experiencing poverty at higher rates than do legal system on the basis of their sexual orienta- non-LGBTQ people, they are also disproportion- tion, gender identity, and/or . ately impacted by the issue of hunger and This discrimination increases exponentially for food insecurity. LGBTQ people who hold other marginalized The issue of hunger and food insecurity is identities, such as LGBTQ people of color and affected not only by poverty levels but also by immigrants. Low-income LGBTQ people and environmental racism and structural barriers to LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness or public assistance. People of color often live in housing instability are particularly at risk for neighborhoods and areas with environmental arrest, both because poverty itself is criminalized— issues, including lack of access to clean water, through laws that prohibit sleeping, sitting, exposure to dangerous pollutants and toxins, loitering, lying down, begging, sharing food, and and inadequate infrastructure. Since developers camping in public—and because people who do not generally revitalize or invest in these spend more of their time outside are more likely neighborhoods, food deserts are widespread to have interactions with law enforcement and and common in areas affected by environmental are therefore more likely to be criminalized for racism. There are also physical, structural barriers behaviors such as drug use and sex work. in accessing healthy food and clean water for Once involved with the criminal legal system people who live in food deserts. Although some or the immigration detention system, LGBTQ food-related assistance programs exist, many people may have significant difficulty paying the LGBTQ people do not access them for a variety

16 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

costs associated with these systems, including purchase of a home or business. Unfortunately, the fees and fines associated with arrest, such discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as cash bail, legal expenses, and community and gender identity in banking and credit supervision fees. remains legal in many states.

LGBTQ people who have been released from Access to banking and credit is particularly incarceration often have distinct needs, such as complicated for many LGBTQ people because access to identity documents with an updated of an increased incidence of homelessness and gender marker. At the same time, collateral con- housing instability, an inability to afford the sequences of criminal legal system involvement initial and continuing costs of banking (e.g., such as criminal background checks in employ- service fees and account minimums), and a lack ment and housing may exacerbate existing of physical access to banks for those who live difficulties accessing jobs and housing, especially in low-income neighborhoods. Furthermore, in states that lack nondiscrimination protections transgender people and immigrants often have inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity, a particularly difficult time accessing the identity and gender expression. documents required to secure banking services.

Recommendations in this section include: LGBTQ people have compensated for these n Eliminate or reduce fees and fines associated structural inequities in ways that both amelio- with arrest, conviction, incarceration, and rate and exacerbate income inequality. Like community supervision, including cash bail. other low-income people, many unbanked n Federal, state, and local governments should LGBTQ people rely on payday loans and other prohibit discrimination in policing and mean- high-interest short-term loans to make ends ingfully hold officers who violate those laws meet. At the same time, LGBTQ people have accountable. invested in creating LGBTQ-competent resources n Federal, state, and local governments should such as Financial Empowerment Centers that decriminalize life-sustaining activities, such ensure that they can make choices about as sleeping or sitting in public, and should their finances that are informed by the best be prohibited from arresting people who are available information. currently homeless. Many participants in the convenings and focus n States and localities should decriminalize sex groups stressed the parallel needs to increase work and drug use. access to banking services and protections n Stop the detention of LGBTQ people and within the banking system—including consumer people unable to pay bond. protections through the Consumer Finance n Develop pre-arrest alternatives to incarceration Protection Bureau—while also building alternative and divert people to community-based structures outside of existing pathways to services. wealth, such as increasing the number of worker n The U.S. Department of Justice and state and cooperatives and employee-owned businesses, local departments of corrections should pilot investing in LGBTQ-specific venture capital, LGBTQ-specific reentry programs and require and refocusing financial reforms on community LGBTQ competency training for community rather than individual wealth. All of these inter- corrections officers. ventions would be more effective if more data n End all bans on access to SNAP, welfare, and existed on the experiences of LGBTQ people in other social safety net benefits for people existing and emerging financial systems. with criminal convictions. Recommendations in this section include: Financial Inclusion and Exclusion n Expand federal and state nondiscrimination For many, the ability to build wealth is contin- laws and policies to include sexual orientation gent upon access to banking and credit—the and gender identity/expression protections in ability to borrow funds that can be paid back banking and credit. over time in order to make large purchases, n Expand access to Financial Empowerment from the purchase of a refrigerator or car to the

17 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Centers so that all consumers have the the rhetoric that taxes on the middle class information they need to make the best choices were mostly benefiting those living in poverty. they can about their financial lives. Since then, the wealthiest residents continue to n Increase support for LGBTQ-owned businesses enjoy a tax rate ranging from just thirty to forty and worker cooperatives. percent while the federal government “struggles” n Include LGBTQ people in data collection and to fund social welfare programs. research efforts related to financial empower- Because of this history, a majority of people in ment and economic inequity. the United States believe that poverty is caused Federal Economic Policy by individual failures. In reality, poverty is per- This report closes with a policy guide that is petuated by systemic oppression that is deeply framed by an examination of federal economic embedded in current U.S. federal economic policy and its role in cementing wealth disparities policy. In an effort to chip away at the structures in the United States. Focusing specifically on the of inequity, advocates have turned to the tax history of U.S. economic policy, we explore how code to help alleviate some of the financial the federal government raises and spends its difficulties faced by poor and low-income funds through taxes. At one point, corporate tax- people. A number of tax credits and deductions, es for the wealthiest were at ninety-four percent, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, have but after President Ronald Reagan’s administra- helped lift millions of people above the poverty tion, the tax rate on the wealthiest plunged to line every year. twenty-eight percent. These cuts allowed those Recommendations in this section include: in power to divide and conquer the country: n Federal agencies should provide increased By drastically reducing the amount of funds access, public education, and funding to these available for federal spending, the country’s tax credits and deductions. wealthiest residents started and perpetuated

18 Introduction Lourdes Ashley Hunter “Every breath a trans person of color takes is an act of revolution”—LOURDES ASHLEY HUNTER

Lourdes Ashley Hunter leading the Islan Nettles Rally in New York City, 2014

n this introduction, I will expound upon how less than thirty-five years old. Some say that poverty among Black and Brown trans folk I am living on borrowed time. I live in a society is inextricably linked to state-sanctioned that has proven time and time again that my violence. I will also share the ways cisgender life is disposable. Iqueer folk bask in the sunlight of complicity I am a researcher, community organizer, and as benefactors, gatekeepers, and enforcers of scholar. I have earned a BA in Social Theory, state-sanctioned violence, and highlight the Structure, and Change with concentrations critical importance of leveraging access and in Race, Class, and from SUNY resources in order to create opportunities for Empire State College, where my research focus Black and Brown bodies disproportionately was how psychological abuse and the lack of impacted by state-sanctioned violence as a familial and social support impact the socioeco- means to shift the narratives of poverty in our lives. nomic growth and development of trans and Framework gender nonconforming people of color. I earned I am a Black, trans, nonbinary person of Indig- a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers enous heritage. I am disabled, fat, and dark- University, where my research focus was how skinned. I was born into poverty on the east social justice movements led for and by trans side of , Michigan, in 1976. I have been and gender nonconforming people of color can disproportionately impacted by state-sanc- shift from a traditional nonprofit framework to tioned violence and have experienced chronic an analysis and praxis that addresses systemic poverty and housing insecurity my entire life. I oppression as well as supporting leadership am forty-one years old. By some estimates, the development while centering healing and average life expectancy of Black trans women is cooperative economics. I am currently a doctoral

19 INTRODUCTION

Office of Public Engagement, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons has set the tone for courageous conversations elevating nuance and context that centers communities disproportionately impacted by state-sanctioned violence.

I am a healer and curator and currently serve as Executive Director of the Trans Women of Color Collective, a grassroots global initiative led by transgender and nonbinary people of color working to create and curate spaces where communities most disproportionately impacted Lourdes Ashley Hunter delivering a speech at the White House at the LGBTQ Leaders of Color Summit, 2015 by state-sanctioned violence can explore the root causes, heal from trauma, see affirming re- student at Georgetown University studying flections of ourselves, and be the authors of our philosophy, policy, and economics. My current own stories and narratives through art, culture, research focuses on the political and socioeco- and social justice. None of this great work has nomic impacts of state-sanctioned violence in been through a paid job earning a living wage. poor, trans communities of color and the ways This work is a labor of survival. Despite my level we navigate and dismantle oppressive systems of education and experience I have never been while building sustainable change. gainfully employed with a thriving wage. Far too often Black and Brown folk, disabled folk, For too long Black trans women have not been nonbinary folk, undocumented folk, and fat folk in a position to write thought pieces, have have had to risk their own lives just to save their opportunities to expand scholarly research, own lives. discover new ways to build community and skill sets, or be celebrated for exploring meaningful If cisgender LGBTQ folk are truly invested in ways to change and challenge the world. It is collective liberation, dialogues about poverty critical for people like me to see vibrant, dy- must go beyond intersectionality to a space of a namic, colorful reflections of ourselves affirmed, linear perspective. When I say linear perspective, uplifted, and celebrated in all areas, especially in I am referencing a space that examines all of the art, culture, social justice, politics, and academia. intersections of violence our communities face For over twenty-five years I have worked as a happening at the same time and in real time. transformative thought leader and change agent I am speaking of a place where we work to for grassroots initiatives that affirm, uplift, and develop sustainable solutions for ending poverty celebrate the lived experiences, narratives, and that also dismantle white supremacy, capitalism, leadership of communities disproportionately patriarchy, settler colonialism, neoliberalism, impacted by state-sanctioned violence. I have transphobia, and fatphobia, all while acknowl- led and participated in the successful develop- edging who has access and how that access ment and implementation of culturally competent can be leveraged. We must also acknowledge best practices at government agencies such the ways race, class, gender, ability/disability, as the New York City Department of Homeless and other factors impact how poverty shows up Services, the New York City Human Resources in our lives and in the lives of our community Administration, and the New York Police members. We cannot have fruitful conversations, Department. My keen leadership in spearheading dialogues, or actions about ending poverty until collaborative efforts with high-level agencies we abandon the notion that collective liberation including the Office of the United Nations High will happen through incremental progress, Commissioner for Human Rights, the White top-down economics, or respectability politics, House Anti-Violence Task Force, the White House or that it will be led by those with access, who

20 INTRODUCTION

are white and/or cisgender. We must center that systems of inequality create for trans people. those who are disproportionately impacted by Social Constructions of Gender state-sanctioned violence in social justice, Social constructions of gender reinforce political, and economic movements. We must state-sanctioned violence, which contributes center their voices, their healing, their leadership, immensely to the ways poverty manifests in the their ideas, and their liberation. lives of Black and Brown trans people. Social Homelessness and Poverty constructions of gender shape and dictate how I currently live in Washington, DC, where the society says people must perform and act out highest percentage per capita (almost three gender roles and norms. Even before babies are percent, or 14,550 people) of trans people in born, their entire lives are coordinated accord- the United States live.1 Trans people of color— ing to their physical anatomy. From blankets and more specifically Black trans people—struggle bonnets to strollers and booties, all are selected to obtain socioeconomic stability. According to blue for boy or pink for girl. From the color the the 2015 report Access Denied: Washington D.C. child’s room is painted to the toys that will be Trans Needs Assessment, the average income for selected for the child to play with, all fall in line fifty-seven percent of trans women of color is less with the sex that baby was assigned at birth. than $10,000 per year.2 In our nation’s capital, That child will also be conditioned to perform Black trans people have an unemployment rate within the roles and norms assigned to that of fifty-five percent, and seventy-four percent of gender. Humans are rewarded for performing Black trans women have experienced housing successfully in their assigned roles and chas- instability.3 The diagram below, from the Sylvia tised, teased, punished, abused, and murdered Rivera Law Project, illustrates the cycle of poverty when their performance is identified as “other”

SYSTEMS OF INEQUALITY: %JTDSJNJOBUJPOJO IJSJOHBOEXPSLQMBDF 107&35:)0.&-&44/&44 because few laws 6OFRVBMBDDFTTUPCFOFmUT Transgender and gender non-conforming people are much more likely to be prohibit employment because benefit applications poor or homeless than the average person. This diagram shows how various discrimination on the require I.D. which may show an factors combine into an interlocking system that keeps many trans and gender basis of gender incorrect name or gender; if cut non-conforming people in situations that are vulnerable and unequal. identity; it’s hard to off from welfare illegally, it’s hard find trans-aware legal to find trans-aware legal assistance assistance $BOUBQQMZGPS Drop out due to harrassment, violence KPCTPSBDDFTTHPPE and/or discrimination at school FNQMPZNFOU $BOUBQQMZGPSTDIPPMPS due to low income lack of I.D. or because BDDFTTIJHIFSFEVDBUJPO or their I.D. doesn’t due to lack of I.D. or because barriers match the name or their I.D. doesn’t match the no income gender they live as name or gender they live as to education

1FSTJTUFOUBOETFWFSFNFEJDBM QSPCMFNT transphobic violence 1FSNBOFOUIPVTJOH leads to increased mental health JOBDDFTTJCMF due to and medical problems housing discrimination /PBDDFTTUPIFBMUIDBSF in private housing trans people are often denied market; low-income homelessness inadequate all treatment or are afraid housing options are often or no to seek care due to past gender-segregated, and or at risk for mistreatment trans people are rejected homelessness health care for placement 5SBOTTQFDJmDQIZTJDBMBOE NFOUBMIFBMUIDBSFOFFET are ,JDLFEPVUPGIPNF because of 5FNQPSBSZIPVTJOH #JBT EJTDSJNJOBUJPOBOEJHOPSBODF often not provided or covered abuse from parents and foster parents; JOBDDFTTJCMF often rejected JONFEJDJOF inappropriate and even if insured; shortage of trans youth are not allowed to express from gender-segregated shelters harmful treatment, including knowledgeable health care their gender identity in gender- or experience harassment and institutionalization and damaging, professionals who can provide segregated group homes abuse at shelters incompetent medical procedures trans-specific care

85)45 5)'-003/&8:03, /&8:03, 5t'88843-103(

“Flow Chart: Disproportionate Poverty,” copyright © Sylvia Rivera Law Project, https://srlp.org/resources/flow-chart-disproportionate-poverty.

21 INTRODUCTION

or is seen as being outside those assigned ety has done everything imaginable to convince norms. Robert Anderson echoes this analysis in me that Black trans people are disposable. his article “Way Out West: A Comment Surveying Social constructions of gender are reinforced in Idaho State’s Legal Protection of Transgender every aspect of all our lives. Social classifications and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals”: of gender have been legally reinforced by struc- It is common knowledge to anyone born in tural systems of oppression and state-sanctioned the United State that the moment a child violence that significantly impact the socioeco- is born, even before a child is even given a nomic growth and development of trans and name, the state assigns a sex (either gender nonconforming people of color. According or male) and gender (either girl or boy) to It’s War in Here: A Report on the Treatment of to the new baby; then this distinction is Transgender and People in New York State memorialized in a legal birth certificate. Men’s Prisons, which was released in 2007: While the state codification of the American As a group, transgender and construction of sex and gender does non-conforming people are dispropor- not affect the vast majority of Americans, tionately poor, homeless, criminalized, and for a minority of United States’ citizens, imprisoned. Discrimination against trans- this legal status does not reflect their true gender people in housing, employment, sexual or gender identity. This often leaves healthcare, education, public benefits, and them outside of the law, as the law will social services is pervasive, pushing trans- only recognize their assigned birth sex; or gender people to the margins of the formal their identity may not be covered within economy. With few other options, many the scope of the law, as the law often only low-income and poor transgender people identifies gender and sex as binary.4 engage in criminalized means of making a Historically, those who do not conform to living, such as sex work. Transgender people socially constructed norms of gender are seen also encounter pervasive violence and physi- as “other” and treated as outcasts. Transgender cal brutality at the hands of family members, people who identify and express their gender community members, and police because of differently from that which they were assigned entrenched and .5 at birth and/or conditioned to perform fall As indicated by Robert Belovics and James Kirk within this realm of social outcasts. in a 2008 article: “Today, transgender individuals Since the age of six, I have taken agency and are employed in every industry and profession autonomy in the celebration and affirmation throughout the world. As a community, however, of my gender identity and expression. Far too transgender people face enormous amounts often transgender children are not affirmed in of employment discrimination, leading to high their identities and it impacts every aspect of rates of unemployment and underemployment.”6 our lives. So many of my contemporaries have To understand how familial and social accep- been rejected by family and society, discarded tance is interconnected with socioeconomic and murdered in the streets simply for existing growth and development it is vital to examine in their truth. I have read about countless trans how discriminatory practices by social systems teens who struggled to take agency over their work to oppress and disenfranchise transgender lives and decided that it was not worth living. individuals of color. Blake Brockington, a Black trans teen, was only Structural systems of oppression reinforced by nineteen in 2015 when he decided that his state-sanctioned violence create insurmountable life was no longer worth living. Many of us are financial conditions and violent realities for violently attacked simply for living authentically Black and Brown trans people, who are often in our truth. I am deeply committed to curating disowned from family and community and reflections of who I am as I continue to create disproportionately impacted by higher rates of spaces for people like me to thrive, because soci- homelessness, poverty, and underemployment,

22 INTRODUCTION

forcing many to engage in life-threatening or anywhere. There was no support, guidance, activities in order to survive. Most times these funding, or interest from local or national LGBTQ life-threatening activities place Black trans community organizations directed toward the women in heightened levels of police contact survival of Black and Brown folk. Many LGBTQ that criminalizes our mere existence. According organizations continue to engage in “gatekeep- to a 2009 report from Amnesty International: ing” that adversely impacts trans communities Transgender people, particularly low- of color. This discriminatory practice rooted in income transgender people of color, expe- anti-Blackness and transphobia contributes to rience some of the most egregious cases heightened contact with police that reinforces of police brutality reported to AI [Amnesty the criminalization and chronic poverty of Black International]. AI’s findings suggest that and Brown folk struggling to survive. police tend to target individuals who do not When I moved to New York City in 2002 I was conform to gender stereotypes that govern assigned to live at several Department of Home- “appropriate” masculine and feminine less Services men’s shelters, despite identifying behaviors. Race plays an important factor as transgender. For twenty-one months I experi- in determining the likelihood of an LGBT enced sexual assault, discrimination, and person being targeted for police abuse, harassment from the staff, security personnel, indicating that such abuses likely stem from and other residents. There were many times racism as well as and trans- when I was raped in the shower and, when I phobia. . . . AI has also received reports of reported this violence to the shelter staff, they cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of blamed me and then informed my abuser. LGBT individuals during arrest, searches and So many Black and Brown folk avoid shelters detention in police precinct holding cells. AI because they are places of extreme violence. But heard reports of officers searching transgen- I had no choice. Sometimes I slept on the train der and gender variant individuals in order or in Union Square. I began to use the restroom to determine their “true” gender. AI has at a McDonald’s to wash every morning, just to documented allegations of misconduct and avoid the violence I faced. These treacherous abuse of LGBT individuals in holding cells conditions placed me in situations that not only and detention centers, including the inap- contributed to the chronic poverty and trauma I propriate placement of LGBT individuals in was experiencing, but also reinforced the violence situations which compromise their safety. In sanctioned by the state that I was enduring. particular, transgender individuals are often placed in holding cells according to their The lack of state and federal workplace genitally determined sex, rather than their protections for transgender people contributes gender identity or expression, placing them to the disproportionate impact of poverty on at greater risk of verbal, physical and sexual the lives of Black and Brown trans folk. In abuse at the hands of other detainees.7 “Transgressions of Inequality: The Struggle Finding Legal Protections against Wrongful Employment Barriers Employment Termination on the Basis of the I vividly remember the experiences of being Transgender Identity” Anton Marino asks: forced to engage in street-based sex work when What happens, however, when the way I graduated from high school in 1994. I was sim- we construe our inborn identity is in ply trying to pay for the overnight stays at drug- direct conflict with the way others and crime-infested hotels on Woodward Avenue perceive our identity? To members of the or 8 Mile Road in Detroit. I was just trying to transgender community, this conflict is buy food and stay safe. I deferred my dreams of inescapable, and the law has provided pursuing educational and career goals so that little protective recourse for such conflicts I could survive just one more night. There were as they arise within the workplace—result- absolutely no opportunities for Black and Brown ing in a gravely uncertain situation for trans women to enter the workforce in Detroit transgender employees.8

23 INTRODUCTION

Transgender Community Policy Briefing curated by Lourdes Ashley Hunter at the White House, 2016

Transgender people face many challenges when social capital. These tactics are indicative of the accessing culturally competent workplaces and lack of trans inclusion in policy advances that face termination just for living in our truths. have been the platform issues championed by the mainstream gay community, such as the repeal As recently as 2009, the United States of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the advancement of District Court for the District of Indiana marriage equality. These tactics also show up in declined to grant Title VII protections to other fields dominanted by nonprofit organiza- a transgender claimant wrongfully termi- tions. Many Black and Brown trans folk have been nated from her employment because she tokenized, exploited, commodified, and disposed refused to conform to a male sex-specific of by many LGBTQ service organizations that are physical presentation while working. With- not truly invested in building the capacity, skills, out question, the workplace has maintained or socioeconomic power of Black and Brown trans its status, since the Seventh Circuit’s deci- communities. Many contribute to the chronic sion in Ulane, as a battleground on which poverty we experience by not paying a living the fight for transgender equality continues or thriving wage, not investing in professional to be overwhelmingly disastrous.9 development, not creating spaces that are Federal and state workplace protections alone affirming and welcoming, and not hiring Black will not shift the narrative of poverty in the lives and Brown trans people into leadership roles. of Black and Brown folk. The transgender commu- Policing and Criminalization nity is seen by mainstream society as a part of the I have always seen the police and the entire lesbian, gay, and but history criminal legal system as agents of the state, points to the fact that transgender people are enforcers of white supremacy, and an enemy often left out of basic policy advances that to my existence. When trans people are housed support cultural competence and best practices in detention centers the impacts of poverty for the entire LGBTQ community. This lack of and state-sanctioned violence are exacerbated. inclusion shows up in the form of gatekeeping, While housed in general population in male respectability politics, and trickle-down incre- detention centers, Black and Brown women are mental progression tactics employed by many more likely to become victims of violence and cisgender queers who have political power and sexual assault by male inmates.

24 INTRODUCTION

Prison officials are required to protect in danger. Instead, the Court ruled that, to prisoners. …Prison officials who display a violate the Eighth Amendment, an official “deliberate indifference” to this duty violate must have actual subjective knowledge the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel that the prisoner is at risk of violence and and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme deliberately fail to act on that knowledge.11 Court adopted a narrow definition of City jails have a responsibility to inmates and “deliberate indifference” in the case Farmer taxpayers to provide adequate safety and v. Brennan, which involved a male-to-female housing for all inmates, including transgender who was badly beaten and inmates held in detention. In New York City, raped by her male cellmate in a maximum- there is legislation that protects transgender security prison.10 individuals from discrimination when accessing Detention centers and prisons are not safe for city services. Although Local Law No. 3 prohibits any person. When transgender individuals are discrimination based on gender identity when inappropriately housed in detention centers accessing city services, the policy does not and prisons it is a deliberate act of violence. In include appropriate housing for transgender Farmer v. Brennan, individuals in city detention centers.12 According to It’s War In Here, “In men’s facilities, transgender The Court declined to adopt an objective women, gender non-conforming people, and rule that would hold a prison official liable intersex people are frequent and visible targets for violence inflicted on a prisoner when for discrimination and violence, and are subject the risks are obvious enough that the offi- to daily refusals by correctional officers and cial “should have known” the prisoner was other prisoners to recognize their gender

SYSTEMS OF INEQUALITY: This diagram illustrates how overpolicing and profiling of low-income people and of transgender and gender non-conforming people intersect, producing a far higher risk than CRIMINAL JUSTICE average of imprisonment, police harrassment, and violence for low-income trans people.

Subject to profiling and harrassment; False arrests for using the excessive police presence in poor “wrong” bathroom communities; increased exposure to police

Criminalization False arrests for lack of Charged with survival crimes Criminalization proper identity documents (sex work, drugs, theft, etc.) due of Poor of (by INS, police, etc.) to lack of access to gainful and Homeless Trans People employment or education People Trans women are oftenfalsely Charged with “Quality of life” arrested for soliciting just for crimes like sleeping outside, being transgender turnstile jumping, loitering, etc., due to lack of resources (housing, money) Low-income trans people are exposed to arrest, police harrassment, incarceration and violence far more than the average person

Isolated and/or subjected to increased sexual violence, Trans people suffer additional gender-related harms harrassment, and abuse while in custody of the criminal justice system at the hands of prisoners and corrections facility staff

gender-segregated arrest procedures (searches, holding cells, policies and Denied access to hormones and other trans-specific health procedures, etc.) do not accomodate trans people. Low-income trans people care while incarcerated. Forced to change gendered characteristics are especially targeted due to lack of access to health care that would help them “pass” of appearance in prison (made to cut hair, give up prosthetics, clothing). as non-trans people and are commonly misclassified by arresting officers as “male” or This results in mental anguish and increased exposure to harrassment and “female” based on their appearance or whether they have had genital surgery. violence because appearance may conform even less to gender identity.

147 w 24th St, 5th Floor New York, New York, 10011 t. 212-337-8550 • F. 212-337-1972 www.Srlp.org “Flow Chart: Disproportionate Incarceration,” copyright © Sylvia Rivera Law Project, https://srlp.org/resources/flow-chart-disproportionate-incarceration.

25 INTRODUCTION

identity.” Housing trans people in facilities that make homophobic remarks (thirty-two percent), are not aligned with their gender identity is an sexist remarks (thirty-nine percent) and negative act of violence. comments about someone’s gender expression (thirty-nine percent) sometimes, often, or The below diagram from the Sylvia Rivera Law frequently in the past year.13 Project illuminates how systemic criminalization is inextricably linked to the poverty that trans Transgender youth who drop out of school have people face. a more difficult time attending college, getting a job, developing a career, and maintaining Violence in Schools stable housing. Many trans youth report finding Trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary themselves homeless and on the streets due to Black and Brown people are disproportionately the lack of familial and social acceptance and are impacted by high rates of homelessness, trauma, more likely to participate in unsafe and illegal criminalization, under-employment, and incar- activities for survival, putting them at a greater ceration, which is inextricably linked to chronic risk for compromised health, policing, criminal- poverty reinforced by state-sanctioned violence. ization, profiling, and heightened police con- The transgender community is growing larger tact.14 Without a job, stable housing, health care, and youth are affirming their gender identity or education, the stage has been set through and expression in bold and audacious ways. state-sanctioned violence to reinforce chronic Many trans youth seek out support, as they are poverty in trans people’s lives. It is clear that oftentimes misunderstood or abandoned by there is a need to create affirming spaces for their families and communities Black and Brown trans folk to have the opportu- Transgender youth are bullied and harassed nity to access affordable housing, employment, in schools at much greater rates than lesbian and educational institutions free from discrimi- and gay youth. Many trans youth report being nation and violence. physically attacked at school because of their Shifting the Narrative perceived gender identity, sexual orientation, or Islan Nettles, a Black , was twenty- gender expression. Transgender children who one years old when she was pummeled to are not supported at school and/or at home are death outside of a New York City police station more likely to score lower than their counter- in August 2013. She was simply walking down parts and are at a greater risk of dropping out the street with her friends. Exploring a career due to increased pressure to conform. The in fashion, volunteering at a community center, 2009 report Harsh Realities: The Experiences of having just moved into a new apartment, Nettles Transgender Youth in Our Nation’s Schools con- was living her best life and it was all taken away ducted by GLSEN (the leading national advocacy on that fatal night. Unlike when Michael Brown organization for LGBTQ students, founded under or Trayvon Martin were murdered, there was no the name Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education national outcry, there were no riots in the streets Network) reported that ninety percent of trans or call to action to end violence against Black students had heard derogatory remarks, such as trans women. Nettles’s murder, much like the “dyke” or “faggot,” sometimes, often, or frequent- murder of many trans women of color who have ly in school in the past year. Ninety percent of been brutally killed in the past fifteen years in trans students also had heard negative remarks the United States, was at the hands of Black men. about someone’s gender expression sometimes, often, or frequently in school in the past year. Even though the police pulled a bloodied James Less than a fifth of trans students said that Dixon off the body of Islan Nettles, he was not school staff intervened most of the time or charged with her murder. It was more than always when hearing homophobic remarks two years later, after his rearrest when he was (sixteen percent) or negative remarks about questioned by detectives, that he stated that someone’s gender expression (eleven percent). he murdered Nettles simply because she was School staff also contributed to the harassment. transgender. He was never charged with murder A third of trans students had heard school staff or a and took a plea deal, escaping

26 INTRODUCTION

Lourdes Ashley Hunter delivering a keynote address at the Black Life Matters Conference, Arizona State University, 2015

a twenty-five-year prison term for manslaugh- At the Trans Women of Color Collective, our work ter. Black cisgender men are murdering trans centers healing and restorative justice by elevating women of color and no one is holding them the narratives, lived experiences, and leadership accountable. The physical violence we face is of our community members in the trenches inextricably linked to the violence we face that is and at the forefront of creating healing spaces; sanctioned by the state and reinforced through building socioeconomic growth, development, cultural norms, social constructions of gender, and power; and, most importantly, leading with and transphobia. love. As we build economic growth and develop- ment for our community, we are enhancing the I am committed to creating and curating spaces capacity of future leaders by equipping them where poor Black and Brown trans folk, non- with the tools to navigate the systems that are binary folk, disabled folk, youth, elders, and designed to kill them. Investing in the lives of undocumented folk have opportunities to heal. Black trans youth is a revolutionary act. We are The Trans Women of Color Collective is a direct showing the world that there is a place where response to the state-sanctioned violence we we belong, that our community members have face every day in our communities. Led by and a home, that we are loved by our chosen family, for trans and gender nonconforming people of and that our lives have tremendous purpose. color, we work in tandem to create, curate, and We believe that everyone deserves to exist in a produce affirming spaces where our community world where they are celebrated in their truth. has the opportunity to come together, leverage resources, and be affirmed, loved, and supported If we are to shift the narrative of poverty in by people who look and experience life just as the lives of those most impacted, here are a we do. We are answering our own call to action few takeaways: to shift the narrative of state-sanctioned violence n Conversations about poverty that are mean- and how it impacts all of our lives. We are build- ingful and rooted in solutions must occur in ing our own community centers, shelters, and tandem with conversations about state- programming, and delivering vital services, thus sanctioned violence, white supremacy, creating the change we seek. capitalism, neocolonialism, anti-Blackness, transphobia, and more, and must be led by

27 INTRODUCTION

those most disproportionately impacted. n We cannot solve poverty without also ad- n Our voices and our experiences are not here dressing white supremacy, housing insecurity, to be commodified, exploited, or tokenized. hunger, trauma, violence, discrimination, We must be paid for our labor. We are our neocolonialism, transphobia, anti-Blackness, experience and our lives have tremendous value. classism, and more. These issues work in n LGBTQ people with access and resources must tandem to reinforce each other. We must work understand what that looks like, recognize collectively to dismantle them all, but those how that power works, and toil every day to who benefit from them must be on the front leverage their power to create spaces that line tearing them down. affirm, celebrate, and encourage meaningful n Trust that Black and Brown trans people know engagement that builds sustainable socio- exactly what they need to thrive. Believe Black economic growth and development in Black and Brown trans folk when they tell you their and Brown trans communities. experience. Listen and learn from Black and Brown trans people. We know who we are.

NOTES

1 Andrew R. Flores et al., How Many Adults Identify as Transgender 8 Anton Marino, “Transgressions of Inequality: The Struggle in the United States? (Los Angeles: The Williams Institute, 2016), Finding Legal Protections against Wrongful Employment http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/How- Termination on the Basis of the Transgender Identity,” Journal of Many-Adults-Identify-as-Transgender-in-the-United-States.pdf. Gender, Social Policy, & the Law 21, no. 4 (2013): 866.

2 Elijah Adiv Edelman et. al, Access Denied: Washington, DC Trans 9 Marino, “Transgressions of Inequality,” 886. Needs Assessment Report (Washington: DC Trans Coalition, 2015), 10 https://dctranscoalition.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/dctc- National Center for Lesbian Rights, Rights of Transgender access-denied-final.pdf. Prisoners, June 2006, 2, http://ncflr.convio.net/site/DocServer/ RightsofTransgenderPrisoners.pdf?docID=6381. 3 Edelman et. al, Access Denied. 11 National Center for Lesbian Rights, Rights of Transgender 4 Robert Anderson, “Way Out West: A Comment Surveying Prisoners, 2. Idaho State’s Legal Protection of Transgender and Gender 12 Non-conforming Individuals,” Idaho Law Review 49, no. 3 (2013): “Gender Identity/Gender Expression: Legal Enforcement 596–97. Guidance,” NYC Human Rights, accessed December 21, 2017, http://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/legal-guidances-gender- 5 Sylvia Rivera Law Project, “It’s War in Here”: A Report on The identity-expression.page. Treatment of Transgender and Intersex People in New York State 13 Men’s Prisons, 2007, 11–12, https://srlp.org/files/warinhere.pdf. Emily A. Greytak, Joseph G. Kosciw, and Elizabeth M. Diaz, Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our 6 James Kirk and Robert Belovics, “Understanding and Counseling Nation’s Schools (New York: GLSEN, 2009), http://www.teni.ie/ Transgender Clients,” Journel of Employment Counseling 45, no. attachments/c95b5e6b-f0e6-43aa-9038-1e357e3163ea.PDF. 1 (March 2008): 29, http://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2008. 14 tb00042.x. Gretak, Kosciw, and Diaz, Harsh Realities.

7 Amnesty International, Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the U.S., September 2005, 3–5, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ AMR51/122/2005/en/.

28