WHERE WE CALL HOME: LGBT PEOPLE IN RURAL AMERICA April 2019 Author Partners This report was authored by: This report was developed in partnership with: 2 Movement Advancement Project The Equality Federation MAP’s mission is to provide independent and rigorous The Equality Federation is the movement builder research, insight and communications that help speed and strategic partner to state-based organizations equality and opportunity for all people. MAP works to advocating for LGBTQ people. From Equality Florida to ensure that all people have a fair chance to pursue health Freedom Oklahoma to Basic Rights Oregon, we amplify and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they the power of the state-based LGBTQ movement. We love, be safe in their communities, and participate in work collaboratively on critical issues—from advancing civic life. For more information, visit www.lgbtmap.org. workplace fairness and family recognition to defeating anti-transgender bathroom bans and HIV criminalization laws—that affect how LGBTQ people experience the world from cradle to grave. Together with our partners we work on cross-cutting issues impacting our community such Contact Information as racial equity, reproductive justice, and immigration. Movement Advancement Project Learn more at www.equalityfederation.org. 1905 15th Street #1097 Boulder, CO 80306 The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) 1-844-MAP-8800 NBJC is a civil rights organization dedicated to www.lgbtmap.org the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. NBJC’s MAP is very grateful to the following major funders, mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ/SGL whose generous support makes it possible for us to bias and stigma. As America’s leading national Black do our work: LGBTQ/SGL civil rights organization focused on federal public policy, NBJC has accepted the charge to lead Black families in strengthening the bonds and bridging David Bohnett Foundation the gaps between the movements for racial justice and David Dechman & Michel Mercure LGBTQ/SGL equality. Learn more at www.nbjc.org. David Geffen Foundation Gill Foundation The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Esmond Harmsworth NCLR was the first national LGBTQ legal organization founded by women and brings a fierce, longstanding Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund commitment to racial and economic justice and our Jim Hormel community’s most vulnerable. Since 1977, NCLR has been Johnson Family Foundation at the forefront of advancing the civil and human rights Amy Mandel & Katina Rodis of our full LGBTQ community and their families through Weston Milliken impact litigation, public policy, and public education. Decades ago, NCLR led the way by establishing the first Ineke Mushovic LGBTQ Immigration Project, Transgender Rights Project, The Palette Fund Youth Project, Elder Law Project, and began working Mona Pittenger to end conversion therapy through what is now the H. van Ameringen Foundation Born Perfect campaign. NCLR also hosts regular Rural Tides Foundation Pride convenings around the country, which provides a Wild Geese Foundation forum to focus on the unique needs of the rural LGBTQ community. Learn more at www.nclrights.org. Recommended citation: Movement Advancement Project. April 2019. Where This work contains data generated from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, which We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America. www.lgbtmap.org/rural-lgbt was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality. To find out more about the U.S. Transgender Survey, visit http://www.ustranssurvey.org. TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................................I Interviewees ..................................................................................................................................................................... i Data Support and Consultation ................................................................................................................................ i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................1 SECTION 1: RURAL AMERICA: WHERE MANY LGBT PEOPLE CALL HOME ........................................... 5 Estimates of People Living in Rural Communities ............................................................................................... 5 Estimates of LGBT People Living in Rural Communities .................................................................................... 6 SECTION 2: STRENGTHS, STRUCTURES, AND CHALLENGES: HOW RURAL LIFE AMPLIFIES THE IMPACT OF ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION ................................................................ 9 Family, Faith, and Community .................................................................................................................................... 11 Family ............................................................................................................................................................................................11 LGBT Parents ......................................................................................................................................................................12 LGBT Youth ........................................................................................................................................................................14 Faith Communities ...................................................................................................................................................................15 Community Organizations ....................................................................................................................................................17 Education and Schools ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Employment and Economic Security ....................................................................................................................... 26 Farming and Agriculture ........................................................................................................................................................27 Immigrant Workers in Rural Communities ......................................................................................................................28 Discrimination at Work ...........................................................................................................................................................28 Housing & Homelessness............................................................................................................................................. 31 LGBT Youth Homelessness.....................................................................................................................................................33 Public Places and Businesses ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Health Care ....................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Fewer Alternative Providers ..................................................................................................................................................38 Lower Cultural Competency .................................................................................................................................................38 Discrimination in Rural Health Care ...................................................................................................................................41 The Legal System ............................................................................................................................................................ 46 Legal Bias ....................................................................................................................................................................................46 Fines, Fees, and Cash Bail .......................................................................................................................................................48 The Strengths, Structures, and Challenges Shaping LGBT Life in Rural Communities ............................. 49 SECTION 3: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: LGBT PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO DISCRIMINATION ........................................................................ 51 Public Opinion: Less Supportive, But More Diverse Than Imagined ............................................................. 51 Policy Landscape ............................................................................................................................................................ 54 Federal Laws: No Clear, Consistent Protections .............................................................................................................54 State Laws ....................................................................................................................................................................................54