United We Dream, the national network of immigrant youth, has just released its “No More Closets” report, the largest national survey of the LGBTQ immigrant community ever conducted.
The report tells the collective and individual stories of some 461 individuals who self identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer and who are either born outside of the United States or are U.S.-born citizens with foreign-born parents. The survey was conducted in late 2015 both online and through individual interviews.
The report uncovers high levels of discrimination and harassment in employment, healthcare, housing and education and a distrust of law enforcement among this highly resilient population.
“With this survey, we aim to both tell our stories to policymakers as well as to the young people in our communities who are struggling that they are not alone and that together we can turn our shared struggle and power into the change we seek,” said Carlos Padilla, National Coordinator of United We Dream’s Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project. “In fact, some of our nation’s leading change makers are LGBTQ immigrant youth – out of great struggle can come great strength.”
Among the findings:
73.4 percent of respondents say that their income either doesn’t cover or just barely covers their living expenses. Only 26.6 percent report earning enough to live comfortably
About half say they have experienced discrimination at school because of their sexual orientation
41 percent have no health insurance, significantly higher than the general LGBTQ population
46 percent said they have hid or lied about their sexual orientation or gender identity to a health care provider because of fear
Nearly half of all respondents say they are afraid to deal with police because of their immigration status or sexual identity.
Survey architect and report author Zenen Jaimes Perez, Policy & Advocacy Analyst for United We Dream, added, “The patterns of discrimination, lack of healthcare and harassment uncovered by this report are heartbreaking but the countless stories of resistance and hope are inspiring. We hope that this report is just the beginning of research into a community determined to live authentically despite the odds.”
In addition to the survey data, the report also includes several individual testimonies of LGBTQ immigrant leaders themselves including this one from Bianey Garcia of New York City:
“Coming out for me was not about visibility, it was about survival and about being able to share my strength with other youth who continue to remain in the shadows and in fear as undocumented and LGBTQ. As a transgender immigrant woman, being out and counted is a critical step so other people in my community can feel safe.”
September 18 is National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day. The importance of the annual observance increases as the number of people aged 50 and older who are living with HIV continues to grow. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that people aged 55 and older accounted for 26% of the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV infection in the United States in 2011.
HIV-related challenges facing older Americans include lack of knowledge about HIV and stigma that discourages them from seeking HIV testing and care. In older adults, HIV is too often diagnosed late in the course of the infection, leading to shorter HIV-to-AIDS intervals.
On January 14th, 36 national and local organizations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people sent a letter to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security calling for an immediate end to the Administration’s heavy-handed and immoral immigration raids , which have sparked a new wave of terror in immigrant communities across the country. The groups also called on the Administration to provide immediate relief to those fleeing violence and decried the Administration’s giving short shrift to due process protections.
The letter decries the immoral tactic of raids and lays out the particular damage that they have on the LGBTQ community. From the letter:
These negative impacts are even more harrowing for LGBTQ immigrants that already report higher levels of violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. These raids will only serve to push our LGBTQ immigrant community further into the shadows.
The call from LGBTQ organizations adds to the growing chorus of voices ranging from over 60 Asian Pacific Islander organizations to more than 150 House Democrats and other political leaders calling on the Administration to end their reprehensible tactics.
Zenen Jaimes Perez, Advocacy & Policy Analyst for United We Dream said, “LGBTQ advocates refuse to sit idly by while the government inflicts a new wave of terror upon the immigrant community. The raids are just the latest in a series of gross injustices being carried out by the Obama administration on LGBTQ immigrants who are too familiar with the government’s use of intimidation, disrespect for due process and abuses in the immigrant detention and deportation process.”
The full text of the letter can be seen here and below. Signers of the letter include: Aquí Estamos, Association of Latino/as Motivating Action (ALMA), CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Collectively Free, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), Equality New Mexico, GALAEI, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, GLAD Alliance, GSA Network, Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, La Clinica del Pueblo, Lambda Legal, League of United Latin American Citizens, Manantial de Gracia, Marriage Equality USA, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, Our Family Coalition, Pride at Work, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, RAD Remedy, Social Workers for Reproductive Justice, The DC Center for the LGBT Community, The LGBT Center Orange County, The Los Angeles LGBT Center, Trans Pride Initiative, Trans Student Educational Resources and United We Dream. LETTER TO SEC. JEH JOHNSON FROM LGBTQ ORGANIZATIONS CALLING FOR AN END TO RAIDS:
(for citations, see pdf of letter here)
January 14, 2014
The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Nebraska Avenue Complex
3801 Nebraska Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20528
Dear Secretary Johnson:
The undersigned lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) organizations and individuals write to express our deep opposition to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) tactics of conducting raids in communities nationwide to round up and deport Central American children and their families.
We are committed to ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of all LGBTQ immigrants in the United States and we are disappointed that DHS has decided to use tactics that instill fear into immigrant communities. These raids plainly contravene President Obama’s directive to “more humanely” enforce our nation’s immigration laws. Instead of raids, DHS should take measurable steps to protect people that are fleeing tremendous levels of violence.
As an LGBTQ community, we know the vital importance of safe places to live. In the summer of 2014, we saw a wave of parents and children arrive to the U.S. to escape extreme violence in Central America. These parents fled because of gangs murdering their spouses, attempting to recruit their sons, and threatening sexual violence against their children. The majority of these cases lacked access to legal advice and assistance, often because of financial, logistical, or governmental obstacles. Without adequate legal counsel, many do not understand the intricacies of court proceedings and struggle to get their cases heard adequately and fairly.
Additionally, we believe a substantial portion of those who are currently in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) people with a disability, as that term is defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1). A very high proportion of the Central American mothers and children now targeted for ICE raids have survived sexual assault or other forms of extreme violence, have mourned the loss of close family members to particularized violence, and today suffer the inevitable consequences of exposure to this trauma. This means that a substantial proportion of the Central American parents and children who have sought refuge in the U.S. are suffering from severe symptoms of—and in many cases likely meet diagnostic criteria for—posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety, and depression.
Consequently, we request that you call for an immediate review of the underlying removal orders on which DHS raids are purportedly based in order to confirm that the orders were not obtained in violation of the Rehabilitation Act. Raids are not the answer, especially for the broader LGBTQ immigrant community. Countless studies show the negative impact that raids have for immigrant communities. Children are pulled from school, immigrant owned businesses suffer, and immigrants fear reaching out to for basic services- even if they themselves are not the targets of the raids. These negative impacts are even more harrowing for LGBTQ immigrants that already report higher levels of violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. These raids will only serve to push our LGBTQ immigrant community further into the shadows.
Consistent with our welcoming immigrant tradition to harbor those fleeing violence and persecution, DHS must end the use of raids that drive fear into immigrant communities. Additionally, you should exercise your statutory authority to extend relief and due process to all families fleeing violence.
This country has proven to be a beacon of hope for thousands of LGBTQ immigrants that face violence. We ask you send that same level of respect to these families and champion their protection.
We look forward to speaking with you about this matter. Please contact Zenen Jaimes Perez with the United We Dream Network at (512) 914-5905 or zenen@unitedwedream.org for more information or to discuss.
Sincerely,
Aquí Estamos
Association of Latino/as Motivating Action (ALMA)
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Collectively Free
Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC)
Equality New Mexico
GALAEI
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
GLAD Alliance
GSA Network
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
La Clinica del Pueblo
Lambda Legal
League of United Latin American Citizens
Manantial de Gracia
Marriage Equality USA
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Our Family Coalition
Pride at Work
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
RAD Remedy
Social Workers for Reproductive Justice
The DC Center for the LGBT Community
The LGBT Center Orange County
The Los Angeles LGBT Center
Trans Pride Initiative
Trans Student Educational Resources
United We Dream
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser released the results of the 2015 Homeless Youth Census at a press conference held at Casa Ruby on Wednesday, January 13th. The Census is now required to be conducted every five years due to the passage of The LGBTQ Homeless Youth Reform Act; legislation introduced by Councilmember Mary Cheh and Mayor Muriel Bowser (when she served on the Council).
The Homeless Youth Census, which used the social media hashtag #youthcountdc, took place over a nine day period in August of 2015. The census counted youth 24 years of age and younger who were either homeless or had unstable, unsafe, or temporary housing.
The results were consistent with what has been seen in other parts of the country. Of the 318 youth surveyed, 43% of the youth identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. 15% of those referenced a conflict with their family due to their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as a contributing factor to their homelessness.
Mayor Bowser and the Office of LGBTQ Affairs announced five mini-grants to local organizations working to support and advocate for homeless LGBT Youth. In addition, Mario Acosta-Velez, Director of State and Government Affairs for Verizon, announced a $20,000 grant to the Wanda Alston Foundation and a $25,000 grant to SMYAL from the Verizon Foundation..
The District of Columbia is fortunate to have dedicated beds for homeless LGBT Youth at both Casa Ruby and the Wanda Alston Foundation. The census data clearly demonstrates, however, that more work can be done. There are currently at least 100 more homeless LGBT youth than there are beds. The current waiting list at Casa Ruby serves as further evidence to this fact.
Wheaton College, in Wheaton, Illinois, has been in the press quite a bit lately due to the controversy surrounding Larycia Hawkins. Hawkins came under fire when she wore a hijab to express solidarity with Muslim Women. Wheaton officials insist that it is not the hijab at issue, but rather statements made in solidarity with Muslims. Now, the the first black female professor to attain tenure at Wheaton faces possible expulsion, and we are once again reminded of the deeply rooted xenophobia that exists in America.
Those of us that are familiar with this evangelical Christian college, however (not to be confused with Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts) are probably not quite as shocked at this development as the rest of the world. After all, evangelical Christians are more often interested in converting others to Christianity than with expressing any solidarity or commonality with other religions. Growing up in such an evangelical Christian household I was taught to believe other religions were misguided at best, but much more likely just plain evil.
Wheaton is also, of course, a school that only loosened up their conservative Christian restrictions on smoking, drinking, and yes, even dancing (think Footloose) in 2003. Certain types of dancing are now acceptable these days, but more risque dance (think Dirty Dancing) is still unacceptable for students
Wheaton has, in fact, long struggled to reconcile both reason academic integrity with its evangelical base. Even today (and after much debate) students at Wheaton are taught a very limited version of evolution. Teachers are allowed to discuss evolutionary changes only within established species. A very literal interpretation of the origin story prevents them from acknowledging the widespread belief that evolution of the human species predated the arrival of Adam and Eve.
And of course Wheaton still refuses to acknowledge that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals are fully equal members of society; worthy to love, and worthy to be loved. They choose to ignore the longstanding positions of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association and what is now more than three decades of research on the matter. Despite what most of us now understand not only academically, but as a matter of common sense, Gay students are encouraged to be celibate, or worse yet, to try and convert to heterosexuality.
In the past few years, LGBT alumni of Wheaton have come together to form OneWheaton, offering hope to current Wheaton students. To celebrate their fifth anniversary, OneWheaton commissioned a play written by Rachel Mariner with Lisa Maria Madera.
In this play, Wedding at Cana, a gay man tries to convince his Evangelical mother to attend his wedding with the assistance of his sister who thinks all religion is stupid and dangerous. Many of you know Rachel Mariner is my sister, and an alumni of Wheaton College I am immensely proud to have a sister who is both an amazing person and an amazing playwright.
For all the articles that have appeared in the news about Professor Larycia Hawkins, there has been very little discussion about Wheaton College itself and the prevailing culture of evangelical Christianity.
This play offers tremendous insight into this world. A staged reading of the play took place October 10, 2015 at the Memorial Park Leisure Center in Wheaton, IL. You can listen to the staged reading on SoundCloud:
It is easy to be shocked and appalled by what is going on right now at Wheaton. We live in a time when it is easier than ever to be isolated from people who think differently than we do. Understanding our differences is hard. Finding the humanity in people we so strongly disagree with can be even harder. Art at it’s best has the ability to help us on this journey, and Rachel’s play does exactly that.
The Pozitively Healthy coalition and the National Coalition for LGBT Health have produced personal guides for newly-insured individuals living with HIV and LGBT individuals, respectively.
The “Get Enrolled. Get Engaged. Get Empowered.” guides provide information on navigating the enrollment process , engaging with providers and pharmacists, and empowering yourself in finding specialty care and maximizing benefits.
The guides are available to download at www.healthhiv.org or clicking on the covers below. For more information on Pozitively Healthy or the National Coalition for LGBT Health, please visit www.pozitivelyhealthy.org or www.healthlgbt.org.
IOM and UNHCR have released a comprehensive training package on the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced persons, migrants and stateless persons.
The need to ensure that the rights of LGBTI people are respected has recently received increased attention and support from UN agencies, States, and the broader humanitarian and human rights community. However, despite significant progress, discrimination against LGBTI persons persists and their international protection needs often go unmet.
LGBTI persons fleeing persecution face a complex array of challenges and threats at all stages of the displacement cycle. These include discrimination, prejudice, violence, difficulty accessing humanitarian services and barriers to articulating their protection needs during asylum procedures and other interactions with protection and humanitarian actors. UNHCR and IOM are committed to protecting the rights of LGBTI persons of concern, and will continue to take targeted actions to build the capacity of staff and partners to this end. The training package released today is a significant step in that direction.
The training package modules cover a wide variety of topics, including terminology, international law, communication, operational protection, conducting interviews, durable solutions, health and refugee status determination, all with a focus on practical guidance for humanitarian and protection actors around the world. Through a series of field tests undertaken in 2015, IOM and UNHCR have refined these materials to ensure that they are operationally relevant globally.
The training package includes general and module-specific guidance for facilitators, as well as other training aides, to promote the use of these materials in the field. In 2016, UNHCR and IOM will also offer training of trainers.
Programs that claim to help parents with “troubled teens” have become a multi-million dollar industry in the United States. The unregulated business of boot camps, wilderness programs, and training academies make promises to parents desperate to help their children, but what parents don’t understand is how dangerous these institutions can be.
“My mom didn’t like it when I came out as a lesbian, so she hired two men to kidnap me in the middle of the night. They told me I was going to jail. Unfortunately, I was sent somewhere worse – where I had fewer rights and was isolated from the outside world.” – Rebecca Lopez, Survivor
Many of the alleged “treatments” for young people at these facilities are actually torture. They include food and water deprivation, beatings, hard labor, electric shock therapy, denial of medical care, and extended solitary confinement. It’s hard to believe this is allowed to take place in the United States, but Survivors of Institutional abuse have documented more than 300 deaths of youth at these facilities.
“Aaron’s mother and I will never escape our decision to send our gifted 16-year-old son to his death at NorthStar. The guilt of our apparent naivete was crippling. We were conned by their fraudulent claims and will go to our graves regretting our gullibility.” – Bob Bacon, Father
The LA LGBT Center and Survivors of Institutional Abuse have launched a new campaign to once and for all implement a system to regulate these residential treatment programs. What these facilities do to young people would be are against the law. If parents did these things, they would be investigated by the Department of Child and Family Services. Unfortunately, these “boot camps” currently exist outside the law.
“When I was 17, two large men woke me up before dawn, tied a belt around my waist and forced me out of my home. I was taken to a dumping ground – guarded by men with guns – for kids whose families didn’t know how to solve their child’s issue. In my case, it was the fact that I’m gay. The program was an endless nightmare of torture, including public beatings and humiliation, hard labor, and sometimes solitary confinement in a windowless cell where we relieved ourselves in a bucket.” – David Wernsman, Survivor
Representative Adam Schiff and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have introduced HR3060 to regulate these programs in all 50 states. It will take all of us, however, to move this work forward. All of us can play an important role in raising awareness of this issue and taking action to support our LGBT Youth, and in fact, all youth that are at risk of being sent to these facilities.
Take Action
Take the first steps now, and join the LA Center and Survivors of Institutional Abuse:
A new visibility campaign in the District of Columbia aims to highlight our local Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The DC AAPI Visibility Project is a partnership between the D.C. Maryors office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, (MOAPIA), API Queers United for Action (AQUA DC) and KhushDC. It is a celebration of the intersectionality of AAPI ethnicities and sexual orientation or gender identity.
The District residents featured in the campaign, many of whom are activists in the community, put a name and face on the diversity within our movement.
As the Project states: “We want to let people in the greater D.C. area know that we exist, and that we are not ashamed of who we are. For those who are still struggling to reconcile their identity as both LGBTQ and AAPI, we hope this project will be a resource and support for them. This collection of portraits will also showcase to our neighbors in both the LGBTQ and AAPI community at large that we are an integral part of the community.”
Campbell: I am a transgender queer-identified Korean-American and D.C. is my home.
Cynthia: I am a queer 2.5 generation Chinese American. I am an analyst in financial services, am passionate about building radical Asian and Pacific Islander Community …. and D.C. is my home.David: I learned Vietnamese as my first language and was an English language learner (ELL) when attending public school … and D.C. is my home.James: I am a gay male, chamorro and my family hails from The U.S. Territory of Guam … and D.C. is my home.Nicholas: I am an educator, administrator, and cusultant, agender, queer, and a person of color from a binational Japanese and U.S. background … and D.C. is my home.Rupen: I am a gay male from Mumbai, India. I am our and proud … and D.C. is my home.Sassanka: I am a page poet, justice advocate, and hard femme .. and D.C. is my home.Vincent: I am a 1.5 generation Taiwanese American from California. I am also the co-chair of Aqua DC, have a very DC-y day job in the think tank world … and D.C. is my home.
“We remember how scary it felt to be afraid to be ourselves for fear of losing our jobs.” Charlotte and Chrissie share their story of living with, and later overcoming, discrimination after Chrissie’s employers adopted anti-discrimination protections. As Charlotte said of her wife, “…she is very much herself, finally, after all these years.” In hopes of igniting a conversation, SAGE has joined forces with Equality PA and the Centerfor American Progress in promoting a new “Campaign for Fairness,” featuring the voices of our LGBT elders fighting for justice.
