COVID-19 PANDEMIC
LGBTQ People of Color Facing Heighted Eviction Risk
Forty-seven percent of LGBTQ people behind on rent express fear of eviction
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Almost half of LGBTQ
renters behind on rent
fear they will be evicted
in the next two months
and disparities in housing insecurity
are especially pronounced
among queer communities of color,
according to a new report from the
Williams Institute at UCLA School
of Law.
Compiling data from the US
Census Bureau’s Household Pulse
Survey of more than 64,000 households
between July 21 and August
2 of this year, the Williams Institute
found that 30 percent of LGBTQ respondents
of color said they faced
a backlog of unpaid rent payments
when compared to 10 percent of
white LGBTQ renters, while 51 percent
of LGBTQ people of color behind
on recent said they feared eviction
within the next two months.
That number is higher than the 38
percent of white LGBTQ folks who
said the same.
Overall, 47 percent of LGBTQ
people who have been behind on
rent said they feared eviction in
the months ahead, according to
the report.
“A key component of a person’s
housing stability is whether they
own or rent,” lead author Bianca
D.M. Wilson, senior scholar of public
policy at the Williams Institute,
said in a written statement.
Wilson added, “While owning
a home comes with fi nancial
risks and challenges, renters are
often low-wage workers concentrated
in industries likely to be
impacted by declining economic
activity, are paying increasingly
larger shares of their income for
housing, are competing over a
decreasing stock of affordable
units, and must regularly resecure
housing as their leasing
contracts expire.”
The numbers also point to a
stark divide in homeownership
when comparing the LGBTQ community
with non-LGBTQ folks. According
to the report, 41 percent
of LGBTQ folks rent their homes
when compared to a quarter of
LGBTQ people of color are more likely to face housing instability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
non-LGBTQ adults. This gap is
widened in queer communities of
color, as the report shows that 47
percent of LGBTQ people of color
rent their homes — 28 percentage
points higher than white non-LGBTQ
people. During the pandemic,
roughly 47 percent of non-LGBTQ
individuals owned a house with a
mortgage or loan when compared
to nearly 36 percent of LGBTQ
people.
Nationwide concerns about evictions
have reached new heights
since the Supreme Court’s decision
that the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention lacked the authority
to maintain the nationwide
eviction moratorium.
The latest fi ndings add to prior
research from the Movement Advancement
Project (MAP) which
noted that many Black LGBTQ
people have had to cut needed
costs, including medical care,
due to fi nancial strain. Last
year, a similar report from PSB
Insights and the Human Rights
Campaign revealed that Black
LGBTQ households have faced
more economic stress due to
the pandemic than other ethnic
and sexual and gender identity
groups — including higher employment
REUTERS/WILL DUNHAM/FILE PHOTO
rates and reduced work
hours.
According to researchers,
LGBTQ people of color continue
to face the brunt of the pandemic,
which has spilled into
housing.
“These fi ndings indicate that
racialized economic disparities
persist during the pandemic,
among all US adults regardless
of LGBT status,” researchers
concluded. “Further, LGBT
POC adults are both more likely
to be renters and to be behind on
their rent compared to all other
groups.”
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