Move For Hunger—the national nonprofit reducing food waste and maintaining food recovery programs across the country—wants to draw awareness to issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, who face hunger at twice the rate of non-LGBTQ+ people. The nonprofit has launched an educational resource on their website. Because statistics regarding hunger in the LGBTQ+ community have not been widely documented in the past, the New Jersey-based nonprofit is seeking to call attention to issues facing the community and provide a go-to resource for other allies to share information.
“Years of setbacks and anti-discrimination laws have left the LGBTQ+ community in need of food assistance at a much larger rate,” said Adam Lowy, founder and executive director of Move For Hunger. “We want to call attention to this community and the issues they face that don’t get talked about enough. We want to be an ally and provide a resource for information, as well as to help those who aren’t aware of these issues to be an ally as well.”
Some of the statistics include:
● LGBTQ+ individuals receive SNAP benefits at twice the rate of non-LGBTQ people. Despite the benefits that SNAP provides to many LGBTQ individuals, a proposal by the Trump administration limited the program’s assistance for people ages 18 to 49 without children. Implemented in April 2020, the change directly affected over 700,000 able-bodied Americans.
● 52% of the LGBTQ community live in states that do not have anti-discriminatory laws, which adds barriers to them receiving food assistance. With no laws as protection from harassment, discrimination, or refusal of training in the workplace, it’s estimated that nearly 50% remain closeted at work for fear of being treated differently or compromising professional connections.
● 14% of LGBTQ+ members have avoided faith-based food banks, due to the fear of being turned away due to religious affiliations, discrimination and mistreatment.
● Poverty is the root cause of hunger, and the number of LGBTQ people living in poverty is significantly larger than the non-LGBTQ+ community; a recent study reported 22% as compared to 16%. Within the transgender community specifically, a staggering 29% of the total population live in poverty, 30% have been homeless and 27% have been discriminated against or fired from workplaces based on their identity.
● One in six Generation Z adults describe themselves as something other than heterosexual, increasing the total number of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. from 4.5% to 5.6% since 2017. Because LGBTQ+ individuals in this country are already predisposed to hunger and homelessness, these issues will affect more individuals as the community continues to expand.
To visit Move For Hunger’s resource regarding hunger in the LGBTQ+ community, including an interactive map with the nondiscrimination laws per state visit moveforhunger.org/lgbtq.
