As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend life as we knew it, LGBTQ people are often uniquely impacted. With societies around the world taking unprecedented steps to slow the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve,” millions have lost their jobs as countless employers close up shop, many for good. With members of both the formal and informal economy finding themselves affected by shelter in place orders, a pandemic economy is taking shape as the nation is forced to acknowledge a vast subset of essential workers who are often overlooked in normal times. Workers now deemed essential – disproportionately women, people of color, and immigrants – continue to risk exposure to illness, often without adequate pay or access to healthcare. This pandemic is a public health crisis to be sure but it is also an impending economic disaster, one made worse by the simmering inequality ailing the American economy.

Now months into this unprecedented crisis, we stare down a likely severe economic downtown and profound economic uncertainty in the months and years ahead. We also know that for many LGBTQ people, already dealing with well documented economic disparities, this crisis will hit particularly hard.

LGBT people collectively have a poverty rate of 21.6 percent, compared to 15.7 percent for their cisgender, straight counterparts. The rate of poverty for transgender people is a staggering 29.4 percent. Persistent stigma and inadequate legal protection from discrimination means that LGBT people are more likely to face housing insecurity, are more likely to be renters, and are more likely to be homeless. Additionally, we know that LGBTQ people, particularly LGBTQ people of color and those with disabilities, are more likely than their peers to experience food insecurity. These sobering statistics describe realities before COVID-19. For so many in our community, the current crisis will only compound these preexisting conditions with devastating outcomes. 

While direct payouts from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act to qualifying Americans will help some, including over 6.5 million LGBT Americans who will receive aid, these one-time payments will do little to address the systemic discrimination and deep inequality that so stubbornly keep so many LGBTQ people in precarious cirucumstances. 

In the face of these dire conditions, philanthropic investment to address economic issues faced by LGBTQ people remains low. Between 2017-2018, philanthropic support for LGBTQ economic issues totaled nearly $16 million. While support for this issue area has been on a steady rise, it accounted for just 6 percent of all philanthropic support for LGBTQ communities in 2018.

Funding for LGBTQ Economic Issues (2014-2018)

In our annual resource tracking report we count three sub-issues under the economic issues category. Those categories include funding for food security, funding related to labor and employment, and support for efforts to address homelessness. The vast majority of funding related to economic well being in the LGBTQ community is focused on housing insecurity and homelessness. Between 2017-2018, support to address LGBTQ housing and homelessness made up nearly 85 percent of all funding for LGBTQ economic issues.  

Funding for LGBTQ Economic Issues, by Sub Issue (2017-2018)

Between 2017 and 2018, the top ten funders of economic issues related to LGBTQ communities accounted for over 50 percent of all funding in the issue area.

Top Ten Funders of LGBTQ Economic Issues  (2017-2018)