Month: October 2015

These Older Adults are the New Voice of Statewide Nondiscrimination Campaign

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Charlotte & Crissie

“We remember how scary it felt to be afraid to be ourselves for fear of losing our jobs.” Charlotte and Chrissie share their story of living with, and later overcoming, discrimination after Chrissie’s employers adopted anti-discrimination protections. As Charlotte said of her wife, “…she is very much herself, finally, after all these years.” In hopes  of igniting a conversation, SAGE has joined forces with Equality PA and the Centerfor American Progress in promoting a new “Campaign for Fairness,” featuring the voices of our LGBT elders fighting for justice.

New Guide to Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers

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Guide to Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation in partnership with the LGBT Freedom and Asylum Network (LGBT-FAN), and the National LGBTQ Task Force, recently announced an essential new guide, Stronger Together: a Guide to Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers, during an event at HRC’s Equality Center.

Stronger Together provides crucial advice and guidance to service providers working with LGBT asylum seekers coming to the United States in search of better, safer lives.  The work of Center Global is featured prominently in the report.  Center Global, a program of the DC Center for the LGBT Community, supports LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in the District of Columbia.

Every year, thousands of LGBT people flee to the United States (U.S.) from home countries where they face persecution and violence because of who they are or whom they love. However, once arriving in the US, LGBT asylum seekers frequently face the daunting task of building new lives in what can be an unfamiliar and often hostile environment.

Asylum seekers who are LGBT often face barriers that others do not. They may continue to face homophobia or transphobia, often arrive in the U.S.without family support, and may be rejected or ignored by organizations that might be helpful to non-LGBT asylum seekers. Even well-meaning individuals could inadvertently undermine the wellbeing of LGBT asylum seekers by providing incorrect or inappropriate advice. Stronger Together offers service providers information on how best to help newcomers adjust, including advising on employment counseling, access to housing, and where to seek legal representation. The guide focuses on assisting service providers in empowering LGBT asylum seekers.

“LGBTQI asylum seekers and asylees should be leaders in this work. They are experts on their own stories and needs, and can use their expertise to serve their own community.” said Nikilas Mawanda, a Ugandan activist and asylee who also contributed to Stronger Together.

“It is wonderful that people in the U.S. want to support LGBT asylum seekers” said Siobhán McGuirk, Stronger Together co-author. “It is important that this movement develops in ways that respect the diversity, agency, and views of LGBT asylum seekers and asylees, while also contributing to the wider immigration justice movement. Stronger Together reflects that aim. Over a hundred people contributed to this project, including LGBT asylum seekers and asylees, service providers, lawyers, researchers, and activists.”

The situation for LGBT people around the world varies widely. As LGBT equality advances in some places, people continue to suffer from discrimination, persecution and violence around the world.

– An estimated five percent of U.S. asylum claims are based on persecution of sexual orientation or gender identity, suggesting that the U.S. would have received 4,802 applications citing anti-LGBT persecution in 2014.
– In 10 countries worldwide, same-sex activity is punishable by death, and 75 countries criminalize same-sex relationships. Hundreds of transgender individuals have been brutally murdered in the last year.
– In a growing number of countries, governments have sought to silence equality advocates and organizations with so-called “anti-propaganda” laws and legislation.

To read the full report click on this link: Stronger Together: A Guide to Supporting LGBT  Asylum Seekers.

LGBT Community Should Call it Quits

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More than a quarter of people in the LGBT community engage in an activity that has significant negative consequences for their health. It can cause debilitating diseases and lead to premature death. It is also something that is preventable—smoking.

Smoking causes more deaths in the United States than HIV, illegal drug use and alcohol use combined, and more than 30,000 LGBT people die each year of tobacco-related diseases.
Members of the LGBT community smoke at rates 50 percent higher than the general population. Some studies indicate that LGBT adults are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to smoke than heterosexual adults. And, although most LGBT smokers say that they know smoking is harmful to their health, fewer have tried to quit (75 percent versus 80 percent of all adults).

It is understandable why the smoking rates within the LGBT community are higher. For some, the stress that comes with living in places that may not be accepting can lead them to smoke. At the same time, the big tobacco companies have marketed their products specifically to our community, hoping that slick campaigns entice young, and often vulnerable, individuals to start smoking.

The problem is that some of the most serious health conditions our community has been battling for decades are made that much worse with smoking. Smoking can make it more difficult to fight off infections, and people with HIV who smoke have a higher risk of complications than nonsmokers.

Quitting, while it may be hard, is not impossible.  Research has shown that one of the best ways to quit is with the support of one’s community. The people around you can help keep you motivated and can help you quit for good.

This is why the DC Center for the LGBT Community recently worked with dozens of other organizations on a campaign to help people in D.C. quit. The campaign, DC Calls It Quits, took place the week of Sept. 21 and had the support of more than 40 local organizations, government agencies and health groups.

The goal of the week was to show people that there are a variety of community resources available—including help lines, support meetings and therapies—that can make quitting easier.

Smoking cessation is an important component of LGBT health and wellness. If you need help, join a local support group that specifically focuses on LGBT smoking cessation, try to quit with a friend or partner – do whatever it takes.

(Residents can access free support to quit smoking by calling 1-800-QUITNOW. D.C. residents who call this number can get free smoking cessation aids like nicotine gum or patches. Combining nicotine replacement therapy with such a program will double your chances of quitting successfully.

This article originally appeared in the Washington Blade.