Poverty in the LGBT Community Center for American Progress By Nico Sifra Quintana July 1, 2009
Lyn Shimuzu, left, and her partner, Silvia
Castellanos, right, play with a train set with their
children, 6-year-old twins Che, left, and Liana,
right, at their home in San Francisco. Recent data
has found that denying LGBT people equal access to
family benefits and other civil rights may be
contributing to higher poverty rates in the LGBT
community than in the general population overall.
Every day the LGBT community seems to be
experiencing a new expansion of civil rights.
President Barack Obama signed on June 17 a
Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and
Non-Discrimination that grants non-discrimination
protections and some same-sex partner benefits for
LGBT federal employees. On May 6, Maine Governor
John Baldacci (D-ME) signed into law a bill
legalizing same-sex marriage, making Maine the fifth
state—along with Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Vermont, and Iowa—to allow same-sex marriage. And
the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Local
Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which,
if passed by the Senate and signed by the president,
would expand protections under the federal hate
crimes law to LGBT people.
Recent data has found that denying LGBT people
equal access to the institution of marriage,
protection from employment discrimination, and other
civil rights and family benefits may be contributing
to higher poverty rates in the LGBT community than
in the general population overall. Despite recent
advances, LGBT civil rights are rarely addressed in
policy debates surrounding poverty. This issue brief
examines the latest data on poverty in the LGBT
community and outlines how the continued expansion
of civil rights will help to reduce it.
Poverty among lesbian, gay, and bisexual
singles and families
A new report published by The Williams Institute
at the UCLA School of Law titled “Poverty in the
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community” examines for
the first time poverty rates within the LGB
community and finds that lesbian, gay, and bisexual
same-sex couples are at least as likely—and at times
more likely—to be poor than married heterosexual
couples.
Gay men are sometimes poorer and sometimes less
poor than heterosexual men, but stunning findings
show that lesbian women across data sets are
consistently poorer than their heterosexual
counterparts. The National Survey of Family Growth
found that, 24 percent of lesbian and bisexual women
between the ages of 18-44 are living in poverty in
contrast to only 19 percent of heterosexual women.
Yet NSFG data shows that gay and heterosexual men
have relatively equal poverty rates: fifteen and 13
percent, respectively.
The researchers also specifically examined
poverty rates among those living in family units.
The Williams Institute used data from the 2000
Census to calculate poverty statistics for LGB
same-sex couples that live together and identify
themselves as unmarried partners. The study found
that 6.9 percent of lesbian couples, 4.0 percent of
gay male couples, and 5.4 percent of married
heterosexual couples are living below the federal
poverty line. The poverty rate for families with
children is 9.4 percent for lesbian families, 5.5
percent for gay male families, and 6.7 percent for
heterosexual married families. The poverty rate for
lesbian couples 65 years of age and older is
particularly high, with 9.1 percent living below the
poverty line compared to 4.9 percent for gay male
couples 65 or older and 4.6 percent for heterosexual
married couples 65 and older.
The study also examined the important question of
whether same-sex couples are more or less likely to
experience poverty after controlling for
characteristics that increase vulnerability to
poverty in the United States. After adjusting for
certain characteristics such as being nonwhite or
Hispanic, being unemployed or out of the labor
force, not having a college degree, being younger
than 50, and having children, the study found that
lesbian couples were significantly more likely—and
gay male couples slightly more likely—to be in
poverty than heterosexual married couples with the
same characteristics.
The report relied on multiple data sources to
calculate its poverty rates. Each had its own
limitations, largely reflecting inadequacies with
government data-collection-efforts that fail to
appropriately count and consider LGBT individuals
and families. For example, the final conclusions of
the report do not account for all LGBT people in the
United States and only look at poverty rates among
some LGB adults and LGB same-sex couples, excluding
LGB youth under 18 and all transgender people.
High poverty rates in the transgender
community
The National Health and Social Life Survey, the
General Social Survey, and the U.S. Census Bureau do
not ask questions about gender identity, so national
data on the current state of poverty among
transgender Americans is extremely limited. However,
a 2007 Williams Institute report titled “Bias in the
Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation
and Gender Identity Discrimination” finds that
transgender people report high unemployment rates
and low earnings: In sample surveys, 22 to 64
percent of transgender people reported earning less
than $25,000 per year.
“State of Transgender California,” a 2009
Transgender Law Center report also found that
transgender Californians are twice as likely to be
below the federal poverty line than the general
population. What’s more, one-in-five survey
respondents reported being homeless since first
identifying as transgender.
Reducing poverty in the LGBT community through
the expansion of equal rights
The future implementation of progressive equal
rights initiatives could have a sweeping effect on
the reduction of poverty in the LGBT community. The
Williams Institute notes that limits on marriage and
the lack of federal protection from employment
discrimination hinders LGB couples’ ability to
achieve economic equality. Its report also suggests
that structural discrimination based on race,
gender, and ethnicity boosts LGB poverty rates since
women and people of color earn lower average incomes
than couples of white men. Lesbian couples are more
likely to be poor than their white male
counterparts, but lesbian couples of color are at an
even higher risk of poverty. Education level,
geographic location, and employment status also
affect poverty trends.
Ending employment discrimination
Equal rights and protections under federal law
would provide LGBT Americans with increased
employment security and help protect them from
falling below the federal poverty level. According
to the Williams Institute, separate surveys have
revealed that 16 to 68 percent of LGB people report
experiencing employment discrimination. And the
Transgender Law Center found that 70 percent of
transgender people surveyed in California
experienced workplace harassment related to their
gender identity. Approximately half of survey
respondents also reported experiencing some loss of
employment either as a direct or possible result of
their gender identity. Nevertheless, no federal laws
currently exist protecting all LGBT workers from
employment discrimination.
Equal access to the institution of marriage
Marriage provides legal and economic security for
many heterosexual couples. These benefits include
access to partner health insurance, tax subsidies,
Social Security benefits, and other economic safety
nets. A 2009 Williams Institute report, “Tax
Implications for Same-Sex Couples,” finds that
same-sex couples often pay more in taxes than
heterosexual couples because the federal government
does not recognize same-sex marriage. The report
shows that the economic impact of marriage
discrimination is significant: Same-sex couples are
not able to file federal joint tax returns, cannot
transfer property tax to their partners freely, and
are not eligible for Social Security survival
benefits. Ending marriage discrimination by
expanding equal access to the legal status of
marriage would increase LGBT families’ economic
stability and help reduce poverty in the LGBT
community.
Reducing the LGBT wage gap
It is well documented that women in the United
States still earn only 78 cents on the dollar
compared to men, but the 2007 report “Bias in the
Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation
and Gender Identity Discrimination” also finds that
gay men earn 10 to 32 percent less than similarly
qualified heterosexual men. Equal pay for equal work
for all would help decrease poverty in LGBT
communities across the United States.
Improving government research
Poverty among LGBT Americans is not being
adequately tracked and documented. The U.S. Census
will newly begin to count same-sex married
couples—reversing a previous decision by the George
W. Bush administration—but the U.S. Census Bureau
and other government agencies should continue to
review their methods of data collection to ensure
the best possible poverty data for the LGBT
community.
Special concerns about equality in the
transgender community
The National Center for Transgender Equality
reports that the transgender community faces immense
discrimination: transgender individuals experience
high hate-crime rates, health care, and job
discrimination, as well as other forms of
institutional oppression. Discrimination affects the
employment status and economic security of
transgender people; action must be taken to secure
equal rights and civil protections for all
transgender people and their families.
Conclusion
Violence, discrimination, and prejudice affect
the lives, economic status, and poverty rates of
LGBT individuals. Securing equal rights for all
would ensure that bigotry and ignorance do not
perpetuate poverty in the LGBT community.
