Erica Lorish-Baugh (Interact): Intersex housing discrimination

I'll now call on Erica Larshbow.

You may begin.

Good afternoon, my name is Erica Lorish-Baugh, any pronouns are fine, and thanks for the opportunity to speak about drivers of housing instability in the intersex community in New York.

I'm a queer, genderqueer, and intersex New Yorker, and the executive director of Interact Advocates for Intersex Youth, the nation's largest intersex advocacy organization.

Intersex is an umbrella term for people with innate variations in our sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones, and internal or external anatomy.

We don't have city-specific data on housing insecurity to share as a gravely understudied population, but intersex people face the same socioeconomic challenges as other in the community due to inequitable treatment.

Over six years of nationwide surveys, intersex people tend to report higher rates of discrimination than other LGBTQ plus people, and more than triple the rate of people without intersex traits.

One study found intersex people more than four times as likely to require housing assistance as other LGBTQ plus community members.

In a recent study, a quarter of intersex people reported housing discrimination in the prior year, compared with 10% of LGBTQ plus people and just 4% of all non-intersex respondents.

Intersex people also report high levels of employment discrimination and are more likely than other community members to have children and to be physically disabled.

Limited access to larger apartments and ADA-compliant housing are more likely to be compounding factors in housing instability for our community as well.

To the extent that in that.

equitable treatment of intersex people drives housing instability, the council does have an opportunity to take action.

Councilmember Cabam's bill, Intro 131, would make anti-discrimination protections for intersex people explicit on the face of the city human rights law.

Justice Director Taylor Brown stated earlier today, making these protections plain will help intersex New Yorkers understand their rights and enforce them and underscore the importance for employers and housing providers as well.

For a community that disproportionately experiences discrimination, clarity in the law can make a real difference, especially given that the intersex community is often overlooked when considering the broader LGBTQ plus community.

We urge the council to hear and pass Intro 131.

Thanks for your time and consideration, and I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Always feel free to follow up with us at Interact.

Thank you.

I'll now call on Peyton Moody.

You may begin.

I will now call on Ramona Ferreira.

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