Out Boulder County and the City of Boulder Human Relations Commission have recently partnered with Boulder County homeless shelters and transitional housing to affirm support of transgender community members.
According to numerous studies, transgender people experience homelessness at a disproportionate rate compared to cisgender people. The National Center for Transgender Equality’s 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey reports that:
● Nearly one-third of transgender respondents have experienced homelessness at some point in
their lives.
● One in eight experienced homelessness in the previous year because of being transgender.
● Nearly one-quarter experienced some form of housing discrimination in the previous year, such as being evicted or denied housing because of being transgender.
● More than one-quarter of respondents who were homeless in the past year avoided staying in
homeless shelters because they feared they would be mistreated as a transgender person.
● Six percent were denied access to a shelter, including 4 percent who were denied access due to being transgender.
● Nine percent were thrown out of a shelter once staff found out that they were transgender, and
44 percent decided to leave the shelter because of poor treatment or unsafe conditions
Given the increased rate of homelessness, discrimination, and mistreatment that transgender people experience nationally, Out Boulder County and the City of Boulder Human Relations Commission asked local shelters to affirm their support of the transgender community by sharing their commitment to house transgender people based on their gender identity and not require invasive questioning or medical documentation related to their sex or gender.
This statement is especially important now, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering a rule that would roll back these protections that were established in 2012 and further clarified in 2016.
Out Boulder County, the City of Boulder Human Relations Commission, and the local homelessness organizations offering life-saving services affirm the dignity of transgender community members and their right to access services that best align with their sense of self. Shelter partners include Mother House (The Lodge), Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, Attention Homes, Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, Bridge House, HOPE, and The Inn Between.
