A great concern me has always been the lack of solidarity affluent white gay men and lesbians demonstrate to the larger LGBTQ+ community, especially those who do not identify as gay or lesbian. This illustrated the importance of a class or economic analysis when discussing “the” LGBTQ+ community.
The lapse of the subsidy extension for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or ‘food stamps’ is a good example. Many of us rely on SNAP to provide food for our families, regardless of the political and cultural gains we’ve made.
From UCLA’s Williams Institute
A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that 15% of LGBT adults—nearly 2.1 million people, including 250,000 transgender individuals—received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the past year, compared to 11% of non-LGBT adults. Almost seven in 10 (69%) LGBT adults who received SNAP benefits had household incomes under $35,000, two-thirds (66%) were living with a disability, and nearly half (49%) had a child under 18 living in their household.
LGBTQ+ folx are more poor than the cisgender heterosexual citizens. According to HRC, more than one in five LGBTQ+ adults (22%) are living in poverty, compared to an estimated 16% of their straight and cisgender counterparts.
There’s more, a little glimpse into why this schism in the LGBTQ+ community is so critical to understand . Again from HRC, cisgender gay men, in contrast, are less likely to be living in poverty than straight and cisgender adults, with 12% of cisgender gay men, compared with 13% of cisgender straight men, and 18% of cisgender straight women, living in poverty. When you factor in racial identity and gender identity, the numbers soar.
I’m not great on economic analysis or crunching numbers. But I can apply lessons from history to current situations.
Leaving transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex and other members of the BTQ+ part of the community behind is very muc a part of our history. One look only to the influence of Trans Excluding Radical Feminists (TERFs) on the transgender community, both as a political weapon and as a source of resistance by that very targeted community. Feminist lesbians who despise transgender women forge shocking alliances with right wingers, alliances that will ultimately backfire for the reason we all see: the right will keep coming for all of us. At some point, affluence will no longer be sufficient to fend off the oppressive forces built into our economy and our political structures.
Ah, the resistance. The BGT+ (and some L and G folx) are responding and forging or reestablishing relationships that rest on mutual aid and community organizing, on class and economic commonalities rather than sexual and gender identities. Countless examples are found on social media, as well as at events designed to help neighbors.
Important to disclose – while I do rely on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) that would potentially make me eligible for SNAP, the household income and assets make that unnecessary and impossible. But I just took a look at the eligibility if I were a single household relying solely on SSDI and I would NOT be eligible for even a pittance of SNAP. Not a cent.
This goes back to my annoyance when people say “apply for the programs” with some sort of vague expectations that the safety net is much more robust than reality demonstrates. I know this both from my professional experiences and my personal life. I also have consulted experts – a friend of ours worked for the State in the SNAP program for 40+ years and gave me a lot of insight.
The safety net should exist. The President should respect the Constitution. Courts should be fair. No one should be kidnapped by agents of the US Government. Schools should be safe. All of these things that most of us rarely think about are true in theory, but also not true in reality.
While I am a cisgender white lesbian woman, I am also disabled, from from a poverty childhood, and slid out of the middle class when my spouse filed for divorce. But we are not yet divorced so I have no real idea on what my final economic situation will be. So I’m sort of “one foot in, one foot out’ but I’ve already determined – based on my informed perspective – that I will not be able to access SNAP or many other safety net programs.
Still, I think SNAP is incredibly important and will do my part to preserve it for other people. I will not directly benefit for SNAP, but I would indirectly benefit from strengthening the food security safety net across the board.
And so will you.
Local food resources you can access and/or support with a donation.
Our pet food pantry response to support families.
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