Chair Hudson: Disproportionate impact and barriers
Hudson cites statistics showing 55% of LGBTQ+ youth and 67% of transgender clients were forced out or ran away due to identity, and 70% of trans respondents in shelters reported mistreatment.
Despite New York City's reputation as a place of inclusion, LGBTQ plus individuals, particularly transgender and gender nonconforming people, LGBTQ plus youth and LGBTQ plus people of color remain disproportionately impacted by housing insecurity.
Many are forced from their homes due to family rejection.
Many face barriers to accessing safe and affirming shelters, and many encounter discrimination when seeking permanent affordable housing.
Compounded by rising rents, a shortage of affordable housing, and economic inequality that continues to affect our most vulnerable neighbors, the challenges can feel insurmountable.
New York City's overall homelessness crisis continues to grow, with tens of thousands of people residing in shelters nightly.
Within this broader crisis, LGBTQ plus individuals, particularly transgender people, youth, and people of color, face unique barriers to obtaining and maintaining stable housing.
In the LGBTQ plus homeless youth provider survey, providers reported that being forced out by parents or they ran away because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression was a primary reason for homelessness in over 55% of their LGBTQ
youth clients and over 67% of their transgender clients, with general family issues underlying homelessness for an additional...
16.5% of LGBTQ+, and 7.3% of transgender clients.
Among respondents to the most recent U.S.
Transgender survey, 70% of respondents who experienced homelessness and stayed in a shelter the previous year reported some form of mistreatment, including being harassed, assaulted, or kicked out because of being transgender.
More than 36% of respondents who experienced homelessness in the previous year
avoided staying in shelter because they feared being mistreated as a transgender person.