Los Angeles LGBT Center Condemns Kansas Passing the Broadest Anti-Trans Bill in US History
LOS ANGELES, April 27— Regarding the passing of SB 180 in Kansas, the Center released the following statement by Amanda Gould, the Senior Program Manager of the National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence:
“On Thursday, Kansas passed what is likely the broadest anti-transgender bathroom legislation in our nation’s history. This new law bars transgender women from using any public space designed for ‘women’ including women’s restrooms, locker rooms, prison facilities, and more. An added cruelty is that this law also makes it so transgender women will no longer be able to access domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers, thereby removing their ability to seek safe shelter space to escape an abusive relationship.
This law—and the hundreds of legislative attacks just like it—is a direct affront to transgender and nonbinary individuals who are already disproportionately impacted by homelessness, domestic violence, sexual violence, and unemployment. Legislative attacks like these are rooted in harmful and dangerous stereotypes about trans people, particularly transgender women.
Transgender survivors often have no trauma-informed, LGBTQ-specific safe spaces to help them escape an abusive relationship. Placing further legal restrictions on LGBTQ people’s access to safe shelter would make it even harder for LGBTQ survivors to exit abusive relationships safely. The National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence condemns this attack on the rights of transgender survivors and calls on the community to join us in advocating for LGBTQ survivors across the country.”
Transgender individuals are at higher risk of domestic violence and sexual assault due to the disproportionate discrimination, stigma, and barriers to financial and housing security that the transgender community experiences. For example, the U.S Transgender Survey found that 54% of transgender people will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. In a study done by the Williams Institute, 8% of transgender adults experienced homelessness in the past year, compared to 2.5% of cisgender gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults. Transgender people are also three times more likely to experience homelessness than their LGB counterparts, and eight times more likely than cisgender straight people—which speaks to the enormous need for shelters to be welcoming and affirming to transgender people experiencing homelessness. Limiting shelter access for transgender individuals would exacerbate this problem.
The National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence is a project of The Los Angeles LGBT Center, working in close partnership with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and In Our Own Voices, that strives to significantly enhance the safety, well-being, support, and health of LGBTQ intimate partner and domestic violence survivors throughout the United States. Check out www.lgbtqipvinstitute.org to learn more about how you can get involved in the movement.
About the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Since 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center’s nearly 800 employees provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: Health, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, Leadership and Advocacy. We are an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world; a world in which LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.