Be a Holiday Miracle
No matter what holidays you’re celebrating this winter, you’re probably visiting the homes of family and friends, or hosting them at yours. As the song goes, “there’s no place like home for the holidays!”
But for many people, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community, ideas of home can be complicated. Many queer individuals may be estranged from biological family, and instead seek to come together with chosen family on festive occasions to help keep their spirits bright.
Unfortunately, many LGBTQIA+ people won’t have any home to call their own this holiday season: the experience of homelessness disproportionately affects LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly youth.
Chapin Hall, a policy research institute focusing on children and families, found that 40 percent of youth experiencing homelessness in the United States identify as LGBTQIA+, even though LGBTQIA+ individuals represent only an estimated seven percent of the overall population. According to the Trevor Project, 28 percent of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
What leads to this overwhelming disparity between the experiences of LGBQTIA+ individuals and those who are cisgendered and heterosexual? A study of 350 organizations serving those who have run away and/or are homeless found four primary causes for homelessness and housing instability among LGBTQIA+ youth: 1) family conflict, 2) physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse, 3) aging out of foster care, and 4) financial and emotional neglect.
Significant hurdles affect some members of our community more than others. The National Network for Youth shared that among queer individuals, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) youth have an 83 percent higher risk of experiencing homelessness than their white-identifying counterparts.
Everyone’s story is different—and that includes the stories of folks who have found themselves homeless or with housing instability.
However, LGBTQIA+ individuals also face more barriers when trying to obtain housing stability including discrimination, harassment, and violence on the streets, as well as unequal access to volunteer and professional service providers.
Overcoming homelessness is also made more difficult for LGBTQIA+ people in the United States because we still lack legal protections that can dramatically impact housing, employment, and health care.
What are ways you can help?
Speak Up
Change starts with awareness. Sadly, though, many people are totally unaware of serious societal issues unless they, or those in their orbit, are directly affected. In order to minimize the risk of homelessness for LGBTQIA+ individuals, we need to raise awareness within our own communities as much as we do outside of them.
In addition to starting one-on-one conversations, we can also engage in dialogues at the institutional level. Many organizations that provide life-saving services may not fully support those who identify as LGBTQIA+, perhaps because of a lack of trauma-informed care, inadequately trained staff, and unofficial discriminatory policies and attitudes. Check in with your local service providers to make sure that they’re able to provide support that meets the needs of LGBTQIA+ clients.
Of course, you can also create conversations at the state and federal levels, too. We still don’t have equal protection under the law—a foundational issue contributing to LGBTQIA+ homelessness.
Give Back
Fortunately, there are organizations dedicated almost exclusively toward ending LGBTQIA+ homelessness. Those working to create change include True Colors, founded by Cyndi Lauper; the Ali Forney Center; and Point Source Youth. The Trevor Project, GLAAD, National LGBTQ Task Force, and PFLAG also dedicate some of their many efforts to ensuring no LGBTQIA+ person has to wonder where they’re going to lay their head at night.
If you are lucky enough to be home for the holidays, consider giving back by volunteering your time or making donations through one of your favorite non-profit organizations. One small act from you could be a holiday miracle for someone else. ▼
Stephen Raskauskas is a Sussex County native who has produced content for radio, TV, digital, and print.
Photo: Jon Tyson on Unsplash.