You can tell that directing the Shelter Project at Queers for Economic Justice is more than just a job for Jay Toole. “Even though [sometimes] I’m tired,” she says, “I see twenty women painting [banners for Pride] and laughing and smiling, which is why I do this work. These are queer people in a safe setting that are proud of who they are.”

QEJ’s shelter project has been organizing support groups in Tillary Street, New Providence, Broadway House, and Park Slope since December. (All are shelters for female-bodied or identified people – transgender individuals can decide which gender shelter they would like to be placed into, regardless of their birth sex.) Toole realized the need for LGBTQ-specific support groups after her experience within the shelter system. After attending a group meeting in which all the female members talked about their husbands and boyfriends, but she was not allowed to speak about her partner, she knew something was wrong. “How can I help myself if I can’t talk about my relationships?” she thought. On top of their daily struggles, queers in the shelter system are often isolated from each other. They’re “hungry for community,” says Toole. “They have no idea what is going on in the queer [world].” These support groups provide them with an outlet to talk about their day-to-day struggles as well as connect with each other and share important information. “I’ve been in and out of shelters,” says group member Margarita Moya, “but when I saw Jay running the group, I knew she was going to help me…I can talk all I want to in the group, I’m always the same person.” Lillian Wisner, another group attendee, says, “[Queers] really need it because they can’t find themselves and can’t relate to the people in there…[but because of the group] we keep on multiplying.”

The groups have certain guidelines – confidentiality and respect – but otherwise run with a minimal amount of structure. “It’s hard enough for me to follow rules, so why should I make them?” jokes Toole. QEJ’s support groups are spaces that deal with a very visceral kind of political engagement – from venting about “being called a dyke by security,” as one group member spoke about, to how to obtain a domestic partnership. The support groups have given members the confidence to advocate within the shelter system for both themselves and each other. “I want to keep learning more, and help more,” says Wisner. Even just having the presence of other LGBTQ folks in their shelter is empowering. “They know we’re queers coming in, and they’re so thankful…you can feel the electricity,” says Toole.

QEJ also directs group participants to support services, which encompasses everything from lawyers doing pro bono work clearing criminal records and filing name changes to referrals for queer-friendly medical treatment.

Even when many LGBTQ folks themselves think about the movement, poverty is not on their priority list – hot button issues like gay marriage dominate media coverage, along with the funding and resources of mainstream gay right’s organizations. But considering that at least 30 percent of homeless youth in New York City are LGBTQ-identified, and LGBT adults are disproportionately represented in the shelter system, economic justice is a huge issue. “Queer homelessness is so buried and invisible in our own communities,” says Toole. “Gay marriage isn’t everything and it shouldn’t be.”

As group participant Moya says it, “[These groups are] needed everywhere and in every shelter.”

The Shelter Project marched at Brooklyn Pride, and is planning to march under the QEJ banner at New York Pride this Sunday. “They all want to march,” says Toole. “[They are] our community, our family.” QEJ invites you to march with them! We’ll be stepping off in Section 3 at 11:00am Sunday morning on 56^th Street between 5^th and 6^th Avenue.