As the new year begins, I want to lay down some predictions and ideas about what LGBTQ issues ought to be big and important in 2015. Some of these will get much air play and publicity and some will not but should. You may disagree with me, and I hope you will use the comments as a place to share a dialogue about these. I’m sharing these in no specific order.
Last week I wrote about another person’s list for 2015, and you will see a little overlap, where that blogger and I agree, but otherwise our ideas are fairly different. I’ve worked on this post on and off since about December 12th but most of the content has been added over the past few days. I greatly admire what David Mariner puts forward, even if we do not fully agree. My list is not intended as a reply to his, but rather one more element in a larger dialogue about how the LGBTQ Rights movement must proceed.
Homeless Queer Youth
One of today’s greatest crisis facing the LGBTQ community is the plight of homeless queer youth. With greater LGBTQ visibility, more and more people are coming out at younger ages, and one downside of that is that it has increased the number of youth who become homeless at younger and younger ages. Estimates are that as many as 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ, and that is most striking if we place it in context. LGBTQ persons may make up between 2 and 10% of the population, so to have such a high percentage of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ is truly alarming.
Besides the dangers and problems associated simply with being homeless, and there are many, this sets the stage for problems for our community overall as generations of our youth will lack access to higher education, jobs, and opportunities. Disparities will grow as this trend in homelessness grows. But another aspect must be considered too. The growing acceptance of gays, lesbians, and same-sex marriage sets the stage for many queer individuals to have higher self esteem, but not for homeless youth. Ongoing levels of shame, and low self esteem will not allow the next generations to flourish and thrive. People of my generation and the generations before, often didn’t come out until college or afterward. Many found solace in books and learning and other creative avenues, and forged good careers because of it. If we don’t think about caring for today’s homeless youth, they will not have the same opportunities for success many of us have enjoyed, and that will mean an end to the furthering of LGBTQ Rights as the poverty line becomes the obstacle for progress for many.
Non-discrimination protections
I believe that no single issue is more important for the LGBTQ community than achieving Non-discrimination protections in housing, employment, and public accommodations. Without such all encompassing protections many will never have the safety required to come out. No single problem inhibits the happiness of people more than the shame, fear and internalized homophobia that accompanies being in the closet and living a compartmentalized life.
As we get closer and closer to marriage equality across the entire US, we will have more states, where the sheer act of marrying the person you love can mean you will be fired or thrown out of your living arrangements. A modern day Jim Crow Era is starting and the legal right to discriminate will maintain the status quo of the second class citizenship for LGBTQ persons.
I believe the real problem with this issue, is two fold. First, I’m not sure we know how real of a problem this is. Certainly there are people who are discriminated against. How many, and where? Not knowing more facts about the problem makes it harder to mount a rational argument to end it. In states like where I live, Pennsylvania, parts of the state are covered by protections while other are not, while most people simply assume everyone is protected. In other words, many do not who the real victims are for this issue, and that makes fighting it harder.
Secondly, I don’t believe anyone really knows how to get non-discrimination passed. An attempt at the Federal level, called ENDA has been out there for many years with no real progress. Here in Pennsylvania, the state groups have been trying the same efforts every year since at least 2008 ( and most likely well before) with little progress.
Until we really grasp the scope of the problem, and then seek out real ways to combat it, how far will we get? The good news is that many employers are now providing protections. The downside of this however, is that it is often top paying jobs in urban areas where protections can be found, and this perpetuates income inequity as well as fosters fear and the closet. Waiting for private employers to solve the problem isn’t a viable solution.
Rising HIV rates
I’m an old guy and remember getting through the first pandemic of HIV/AIDS, so it is especially alarming to see infection rates among gay men rising again at alarming rates. I’ve written before (and will again) about the ongoing failures of the stuff passed off as HIV prevention. We must as a community revisit this issue with renewed vigor or we are setting the stage to lose another generation of gay men to HIV/AIDS, and as the Far Religious Right attempts to gain ground, we will see this used as a weapon against LGBTQ Rights with an effort stronger than ever before. Previous HIV prevention policy relied on fear of getting AIDS as a way to motivate people to protect themselves and fear is rarely a useful tool in the long run. New strategies are needed, and these may include use of drug prophylaxis like PrEP.
Who belongs in the LGBTQ community?
An issue that really became concrete last year as there was controversy sparked between thew Drag community and the Transgender community, the bigger issue of who does and doesn’t feel welcome under the rainbow umbrella is as old an issue as the modern day LGBTQ Rights movement itself. As recently as last week, blogger Jon Aravosis continues his attack on the growing shift to make visible more within the sexual minority communities as demonstrated by changing acronyms. I have both lots of respect for Aravosis (he has done some really great work as a blogger) and I think he is a remnant of the dying breed of white male privileged people who are a hindrance to real and full diversity and acceptance within the LGBTQ community.
This is not an “issue” like the others on this list. No legislation will address it. Rather, it is the truly important aspect of “community” required by LGBTQ persons as we better understand our whole and have respect for the individual identities that make up the parts of our rainbow coalition.
LGBTQ and Education
This is a subject that has received little to no attention so far, and I’m afraid no one will really start to look at it until it is too late. To date, the perspective has been on home schooling and text books in Texas, and no one is really thinking about or drawing attention to how these texts as well as curriculum overall portrays LGBTQ persons and LGBTQ history overall. Without a written history, and real information about sexual orientation and identity, we hinder tomorrow’s youths and the generations which will come after ours.
Not on my list
You may be surprised that Marriage Equality didn’t make my top five list of issues, and for me, it is truly less important than these other issues. Not everyone agrees and there will be an enormous push to get a US Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality as soon as possible. While I grasp why that is important, I think the push for it is short-sighted. I’m also not certain we will see the Supreme Court rule in our favor depending upon what type of case makes it to the court first. The success of the Religious Right in the Hobby Lobby case ought to cause every queer marriage proponent some concern.
Conversion Therapy and Queer Youth
After the recent suicide death of Leelah Alcorn, the broader issue of trans youth issues may seem topical and are truly important. Horrific incidences like this loss may unify parts of the community which otherwise seem disparate. I’m not saying more about it here in this list because I’m not sure what the answers are– not even sure what the questions really are, past asking how do we keep our LGBTQ youth alive. Some states have already passed laws outlawing conversion therapy for youth, and I think it was a real oversight on my part to not consider it as a top issue for my list. Look for me to write more about this soon.