goqnotes.com/to/news
news
Equality in funding? Not for the South. New report shows southern LGBT communities severely underfunded by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com CHARLOTTE — A new report from a national LGBT philanthropy research group says funding for LGBT communities in the South is significantly lower than other regions of the country despite the South’s large LGBT population and needs. Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ report, “Out in the South: Building Resources for LGBTQ Advancement in the U.S. South,” notes startlingly concerning and disproportionate funding levels. With more than 3 in 10 LGBT U.S. adults living in the South, the group says the South is home to a larger LGBT population than any other region of the country. Yet, the South receives just 3-4 percent of national domestic LGBT spending. It’s a topic Funders for LGBTQ Issues and others have known about for some time. Last July, the group convened LGBT and progressive philanthropists and foundations in Charlotte for a meeting to discuss the issue. “It all really started with a few of our members who are based in the South and they realized they were among the few who were funding LGBT communities in the South at a significant level,” Funders’ President Ben Fancisco Maulbeck told qnotes. “It’s been a long-neglected region.” The group’s report shows that the South received just $4.4 million in 2011 and $4.8 million in 2012. Nationally, funders contributed just under $51 million to LGBT issues in 2011 and just over $46 million in 2012. Put into perspective, the numbers are striking. In 2012, New York City alone received over $10 million for local services, advocacy and funding — more than twice the amount of the entire South. Average per capita spending across the nation is about $5.78 per adult. In the South, that number is just $1.71 per adult and the South was the only region of the country not containing a single state which topped the national average. The numbers do not include funding for national organizations. “The South has just not gotten as much support,” said
LGBTQ Issues found some states and local communities with strong, local philanthropy efforts. The Carolinas were among them, counting local giving by groups like the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund, Raleigh’s Crape Myrtle Foundation, Greensboro’s Guilford Green Foundation and Winston-Salem’s Adam Foundation. The Alliance for Full Acceptance is based in Charleston. from Funders for LGBTQ Issues “Out in the South: Building Resources Other parts of the report delved into for LGBTQ Advancement in the U.S. South” report. more detailed spending breakdowns, including where money in the South is Maulbeck. “A lot of the national support has been focused on being spent. Nationally, more money where we thought we had the easiest victories or the greatest goes toward advocacy, while the South receives more funding possibility for victories, and that’s generally not the South.” for direct services, in particular health funding — a reflection, The Charlotte meeting was held to gauge what Funders for perhaps of the South’s higher HIV/AIDS incidence rates. LGBTQ Issues, philanthropists and funders could do to help solve Maulbeck said his group will continue moving forward to the problem. Fifty groups gathered, including the Foundation for raise awareness and push for change. Later installments in their the Carolinas’ Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund and the Z. Smith reporting series will examine the health of LGBT non-profits and Reynolds Foundation, one of the state’s largest non-LGBT, prothe state of southern LGBT non-profit infrastructure. : : gressive funding groups. Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ report, the first in a multi-part series, is partly a result of the meeting and will help to raise awareness and highlight solutions, said Maulbeck. The report was released in late January, at the National Gay and Who’s giving and receiving Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference in Houston. Two North Carolina groups ranked in the top funders in There, Maulbeck said he began to receive near-immediate Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ report. positive feedback. Both the Foundation for the Carolinas, which houses the “From southern leaders, we’ve heard of this honest sense of Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund, and Winston-Salem’s Z. Smith validation from people who’ve said it’s great to see a report that Reynolds Foundation ranked in the top 25 largest donors of shows quantitatively with numbers what they’ve been feeling southern LGBT issues, respectively giving $176,415 and $135,000 and experiences for years,” said Maulbeck. in 2011 and 2012. Funders, he said, have acknowledged a “collective awareNorth Carolina groups also ranked in the top 25 grant recipients. ness that this is a call to action.” From 2011-2012, Equality North Carolina received $227,100; Duke Maulbeck added, “We are a different moment in the moveUniversity received $150,000; Unity Fellowship Church Charlotte ment and the South has been left behind. It’s time to think about received $150,000; and Time Out Youth Center received $113,560. how to change that collectively.” The report wasn’t all bad news, however. Funders for
LGBT people of color, transgender workers face obstacles Effects of discrimination can be felt locally by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com CHARLOTTE — With advances in the LGBT movement, especially on issues like marriage equality, occurring rapidly across the country, some are still left wondering when movement leaders might begin to focus more attention on issues like employment. Access to employment and non-discrimination protections are crucial for some community members, according to a recent report released last fall by the Center for American Progress, Freedom to Work, the Human Rights Campaign, the Movement Advancement Project and the National Black Justice Coalition, among other partners. The report found that LGBT workers of color face significantly higher risks of joblessness and homelessness. Poverty rates for black same-sex couples are at least twice the rate of black opposite-sex couples, the report also noted. Similar issues also face transgender workers, obstacles some advocates see even in Charlotte. “One of the big obstacles for employees and people we’ve worked with is that they have inconsistent documents,” Sarah Demarest, an attorney with the LGBTQ Law Center, noted about transgender workers. “If they have transitioned, sometimes their
10
qnotes
Feb. 14-27 . 2014
gender-identity does not match the name on their documents, a driver license for example.” Jessica Williams, 22, is facing challenges of her own. She’s a low-income student, African-American and transgender. She began her transition in 2012. Before then, she said she could get any job she wanted. But, she hasn’t had a job since transitioning. “Before, I could find a job in a matter of weeks,” Williams said. “I’ve never had a problem because I had so much training. I even had supervisor training. I never had a problem, especially if I made it to the interview stage.” But, employers are consistently now passing her over. She said potential employers have been vague for their reasoning. “They say, ‘We’ve found a candidate that better fits the position,’” Williams said, noting her recent applications have been for entry-level jobs that don’t require all that much experience. “It is frustrating and weird,” Williams said. “I had so much experience. I’ve been working since I was 15. I’ve had 10-plus jobs working anywhere from retail, sales, a call center, a cleaning service and administrative work. I have a lot of experience.” Demarest said certain larger, social problems contribute to challenges like those faced by Williams.
“There are systemic and institutional racism and issues of class that sometimes hold people back from being able to have meaningful employment,” she said, citing criminal justice issues and education. The fall LGBT workers report noted similar issues. LGBT youth of color are among children who are most at risk for dropping out of school. Williams said employers are missing out when they pass over qualified, yet diverse candidates. “There are a lot of transgender individuals that I know personally [who] are very well educated and experienced in all types of fields,” she said. “By discriminating, they are limiting themselves. They don’t even know how it might be holding them back. For all they know, their clients might be transgender or have a transgender lover, niece or nephew.” The Employment Non-Discrimination Act recently saw approval in the U.S. Senate, but is unlikely to pass in the U.S. House. The legislation would protect workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other characteristics. It has been on the movement’s agenda for two decades. : :