Legal advocates: 'Sea change' is necessary to help low-income LGBT clients

“Love wins!” the headlines – and tweets – cried out victoriously last June. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed same-sex marriage as a fundamental right throughout the country, gay rights advocates breathed a sigh of relief. Years of shifting cultural attitudes had finally led to tangible – and long-sought – rights for gay citizens.

But less than a year after the landmark Supreme Court decision, legal advocates remain cognizant of just how much work remains to be done for the LGBT community, despite some high profile gains. Legal Services NYC’s startling new report, “Poverty is an LGBT Issue: An Assessment of the Legal Needs of Low-Income People,” catalogues the habitual discrimination and abuse faced by many LGBT New Yorkers, highlighting an inextricable link between continued oppression, lack of access to essential services and sustained economic disadvantage.

“The public doesn’t usually associate poverty with the LGBT community,” said Cathy Bowman, LGBT and HIV unit director at Legal Services NYC’s Brooklyn office. “Unfortunately, that perception is wrong: Poverty is a huge problem for many LGBT people. Yet there are far too few legal resources to address the challenges and discrimination faced by low-income LGBT individuals.”

The report, which is based on interviews with over 300 low-income LGBT Legal Services clients, portrays a “truly heartbreaking” level of economic hardship, according to Bowman. According to the survey, 62 percent of those interviewed had difficulty paying for a basic need in the past year, including housing and food, forcing many clients to navigate complex and overburdened government agencies.

The report also highlights the astounding level of abuse experienced by low-income LGBT New Yorkers. A full 50 percent of respondents said that they had been victims of some form of violence, including domestic abuse, sexual assault or neglect by a parent or guardian; 39 percent of those interviewed said that they had been verbally harassed in public in just the last year.

To read the full story, visit our sister publication New York Nonprofit Media here.