Low-Income LGBTQ New Yorkers Reveal “A Fabulous Attitude” in New Report

The Welfare Warriors’ Research Collaborative (WWRC) of Queers for Economic Justice celebrate Pride by releasing the findings of a three-year community participatory action research project, “A Fabulous Attitude: Low Income LGBTGNC People Surviving & Thriving on Love, Knowledge & Shelter.”

WWRC co-researchers conducted surveys with 171 low-income LGBT and gender nonconforming (GNC) people, gathering information about the economics of peoples’ lives, struggles with social services and police, as well as the many ways people generate justice. They also video recorded 10 storytelling interviews and audio recorded hundreds of hours of our research meetings, both of which were analyzed as data for this report. Some of the findings in the report are:

• Most of the people who participated in our survey (69%) have been homeless at some point in their lives. The majority (58%) currently live in a shelter, on the street or subway, or in temporary living situations.
• Survey takers manage intense targeting by police: over half have been stopped for questioning and almost half have been arrested. Further, 29% have been strip-searched and 19% have been physically assaulted by police at least once.
• Over 70% of survey takers rely on government financial and health benefits. Yet almost half report discrimination in a government or community agency – ranging from verbal harrassment to physical assault – and two-fifths of those were denied services. Staff or employees were involved in over 50% of incidents, police in over 40% and guards in 20%.

As these statistics begin to indicate, the report shows that low-income queers are dealing with issues of government and nonprofit violence, both inside and outside LGBT organizations. The struggles go beyond making ends meet; violences of poverty, racism, policing, and ablism pervade the lives of low income LGBTGNC New Yorkers.

At the same time, low income LGBTGNC communities give back and fight back. 113 responders described the 271 groups and organizations they are part of and 58% take action on their own and with others to resist daily injustices and build the communities they want to live in. Recommendations and desires included in the report include promoting community ethics, ending the use of the law against our communities, and taking action together for economic, housing, racial, sexual, and gender justice.

WWRC findings contribute to the ongoing call for attention to the ways racism and economic injustice intersect with homophobia and transphobia. This is necessary because of the ways LGBT issues continue to be framed in mainstream political and research agendas primarily in terms of sexuality, and to some extent gender, while ignoring racialized and classed dimensions of peoples’ everyday lives. Further, because low-income LGBTGNC people draw on their identities to survive and resist discriminatory and dehumanizing treatment, it is crucial to see and honor each other as members of multiple communities.

Download the full report here.

An accompanying documentary produced by the Welfare Warriors’ Research Collaborative will be screening in NYC and around the country. Portions will be made available online soon.