GivingMatters.com - GLBTQ
Issue
Harmful public attitudes are the root cause of the struggles of most gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) people. These struggles range from issues of marriage and family rights to cases of employment and housing discrimination. Community prejudice likewise gives rise to violence, school bullying and hate crimes.
Inequality at work and at home remains a central issue for the GLBTQ community. In Tennessee, a person can be fired solely on the basis of sexual orientation. Failing to recognize domestic partners, civil unions or marriage equality creates barriers for couples in paying taxes, obtaining health insurance, estate planning, retirement, property ownership and inheritance. Because the civil rights of same-sex couples have yet to be established by law, simple family issues become complicated, including adoption, custody and the right to pick up one’s child from school. Couples are forced to establish costly legal documentation to clarify their most basic legal rights.
Violence against the GLBTQ community is prevalent in our schools and in the community. At a time when sexual discernment is confusing at best, students report verbal and physical abuse as a result of their sexual orientation. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Hate Crimes Report includes sexual bias as a root cause of hate-related violence.
Health and wellness concerns include finding a doctor knowledgeable of GLBTQ medical needs such as vaccines, HIV prevention and treatment, and help with addiction and eating disorders. A growing challenge for the GLBTQ community is the care of aging and elderly partners.
Resources are needed not only to meet the unique needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning persons but also to support work designed to change the harmful attitudes that encourage and maintain damaging public policies.
Faces
David is a successful accountant in a traditional marriage and thankful
for his moms. He was adopted as a toddler after his biological
mother lost custody due to child neglect.
“All I knew growing up is I was wanted and loved,” David said. As an adolescent, David remembers confusion at school when two moms showed up for parent-teacher conferences and how they needed special paperwork for health care decisions. David’s family attended church, sporting events and made sure he received oboe lessons until he quit playing in 9th grade--no one was sad when David gave up the oboe.
What David did not remember, until his mom told him, is friends not attending early birthday parties because their parents thought the house would have AIDS.
Facts
- 6.8% of Americans over the age of 18--roughly 15 million people--identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to a 2007 marketing study by Witeck-Combs Communications.
- Out & About, Tennessee’s GLBTQ newspaper, prints 15,000 papers per edition; the publication receives an additional 12,500 views online.
- Hate crimes based on sexual orientation increased three-fold from 2005 to 2006 and only declined slightly from 2006 to 2007, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
- In Memphis, two transgender women were killed and a third shot in the face in 2008.
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts 2006 Youth Risk Survey).
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth who come from a rejecting family are up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (2007 San Francisco State University Chavez Center Institute).
- Nearly one in four (24%) of gay men and lesbians live in households with children under the age of 18.
- 45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians report having experienced verbal harassment and/or physical violence as a result of their sexual orientation during high school. 28% of gay and lesbian high school students dropped out of school, according to a Remadedi report in Pediatrics Magazine.
- 11% of lesbians reported violence by their female partner and 15% of gay men who had lived with a male partner reported being victimized by a male partner, according to a 2003 published study by Patricia Tjaden.
- In 2006, Tennessee passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
How you can help
Work to prevent prejudice in your community. Speak up when anti-GLBTQ
rhetoric is used or harmful attitudes are expressed.
Support organizations working to reduce violence against the GLBTQ community and to reduce school bullying.
Support school efforts toward creating welcoming environments for students of all sexual identities and for helping parents understand diverse family structures.
Support the Brooks Fund at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, which supports GLBTQ organizations and those addressing GLBTQ issues.
Find a nonprofit organization on GivingMatters.com that is addressing
the root causes of bias and intolerance and support them.
Links and Referrals
For referral to services:
Call United Way 2-1-1
Community Services
http://outandaboutnewspaper.com/communityresources/
Follow Tennessee legislation on GLBTQ issues
http://tnep.org/html/LegislativeUpdates/
Nashville GLBTQ Chamber
http://www.nashvilleglbtchamber.org/
Cost of marriage inequality to GLBTQ Seniors
http://www.hrc.org/documents/cost_of_marriage.pdf
Gay Marriage
http://www.pewforum.org/gay-marriage/
Adoption
http://www.hrc.org/issues/parenting/adoption.asp
Suicide Prevention
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/home1.aspx
Safe Schools
http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=1011
Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=194
In Communities of Color
http://www.hrc.org/issues/coming_out/in_communities_of_color.asp
Return
to GivingMatters.com to learn about nonprofits addressing this issue.
