Category Archives: LGBT

4 LGBT Issues To Focus On Now That Marriage Equality Has Been Achieved

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The LGBT community fought hard for marriage equality. It was a long hard fight, but they finally did it. However, there are other LGBT issues to focus on now that we have marriage equality. Read on to find out what some of those issues are.

1. Violence- The truth is that the LGBT community experience violence at higher rates than straight people, and LGBT people of color especially experience it at high rates. Violence against those who are lesbians, gay, bisexual or transgender should not have to worry about encountering violence due to their sexuality. There are many ways to curb violence against the LGBT community and one of the best ways is to increase awareness of violence against LGBT people and providing education to the general public.

2. Employment Discrimination- In 2013, a survey revealed that 21 percent of LGBT adults said they were treated unfairly by the people they work for due to their sexuality or because of the gender they identify with. Another survey revealed that around 50 percent of black LGBT have encountered discrimination in regards to employment. The rates are even higher for workers who are transgender, who have also reported to experiencing harassment while at work or being mistreated.

Numerous states have passed laws that make it illegal to discriminate against employees due to their sexual orientation. Even though states have passed laws, there is still not enough federal protection. Job discrimination is a huge issue within the LGBT community and it is an issue that needs to be focused on.

3. Poverty- Another major issue to focus on is poverty, which can lead to LGBT people becoming homeless, as well as be faced with poor health and food insecurity. In fact, some research has shown that workers who are LGBT are more likely to earn less per year when compared to the general population in the United States. The truth is that the LGBT community is vulnerable and they appear to be at a greater risk of experiencing poverty than the general population.

4. Healthcare- The LGBT community is also faced with a hard time accessing care, as well as getting health insurance, and this can lead to various issues such as mental illness, disease, drug use and obesity. Denial of coverage to LGBT people, especially transgenders may be a bigger issue than most people think. In fact, the Transgender Law Center discovered that gender identity discrimination in insurance prevents them from accessing essential services such as surgery, mental health services and hormone therapy. LGBT and accessing healthcare is a more issue that the community should focus on.

Healthcare, job discrimination, violence and poverty are issues that the LGBT community are faced with and those are issues that people should focus on. Remember, marriage equality was only one of the major issues the LGBT community faced. There are other issues they faced, but the four issues discussed above are some of the most major issues that people should focus and try to solve.

A Discussion On LBGT Issues That Matter

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Gay marriage is now fully legal throughout the United States which is definitely a huge victory for LGBT persons in the US. However, marriage equality is not the only issue that we have and there are dozens of other issues that need to be addressed. So, in this article, we’ll be looking at a few other pertinent issues that we all should be paying attention to as a society.

The first one that we’ll look at is violence. Violence against LGBT persons is nothing new but it has to stop. Do you know that LGBT persons of color are more than twice as likely to experience violence? As a matter of fact, in 2012, 73.1% of hate violence was against LBGT persons of color. Now, in 2016, anti-gay violence is still rampant and is even made worse with racism. This systematic ill-treatment of people due to their race, sexuality or any other factor is simply unacceptable. We may have marriage equality, but more needs to be done to reduce LGBT hate and facilitate acceptance and love in all communities.

Next, another issue that needs to be looked at are LGBT migrants. This group is discriminated against even twice as much since they have to go through discrimination from being a minority, immigrant, queer and also being rejected by their fellow migrants who are typically very anti-LGBT. According to estimates, 2.7% of all immigrants in the US are LGBT. They not only have to go through discrimination from all sides, but are usually the most affected by deportation and detention. They are more susceptible to harassment and abuse from fellow migrants and officials, especially if they are transgender.

A third issue that we will now discuss is health care. Currently, over 82% of heterosexuals have health insurance in the US and only 77% of LGB persons have insurance. 57% of transgender persons have health insurance which shows that transgender persons are in great need of health care and assistance. It is critical that LGBT health care is expanded and made into a priority.

Next, we will look at employment, economic inequality and homelessness. It is no surprise that a significant number of LGBT people live below the poverty line and are employed in low income jobs. This is due to the fact that the LGBT are very vulnerable and usually lead stressful lives due to discrimination. Discrimination at work often causes them to not progress above low income jobs in addition to a lack of support from their heterosexual families. The children of gay and lesbian parents are now twice as likely to live in poverty in comparison to children in heterosexual homes. So, as you can see, much needs to be done to improve the economic issues that LGBT persons face.

In closing, we have just taken a quick look at some of the major issues affecting the LGBT community. There are dozens of other issues but these are the main ones that need to be addressed right away. Marriage equality was an excellent step in the right direction, but we need to keep addressing these other issues so that the lives of all LBGT persons can improve.