Why we need safe Shelters for those not fitting the sex/gender binary…

There is appearing in the press recently the story about a 17-year-old trans girl who was physically attacked by other residents and verbally abused by staff every day for almost a year and a half [click here to view one of the many pieces].  Sadly this is a story that repeats itself day in and day out, be it in Philly, NYC, Connecticut or wherever ~ be it a homeless shelter, domestic violence shelter, transitional living and so on.  Ct TransAdvocacy and others have done significant work in Connecticut educating and promoting the need for safe shelters (homeless, DV, transitional) for trans and gender non-conforming folks.  Though sadly this is an ongoing struggle due to staff and case worker turnover; and so there is an ongoing need for awareness, training, advocacy, activism and policy creation within our diverse system of shelters.

I recently came back from the CSAC conference in Detroit and one of the workshops was about housing and how the anarchist community can work within this venue.  As folks talked about the issues around home ownership, foreclosures, etc, I injected into the dialogue the fundamental issues around sheltering for queer youth and adults.  I was rather disappointed the dialogue did not get the traction I had hoped, though the queer presence at that workshop seemed small.  From the days when the Atlanta Shelters put out signs “No Transgenders Allowed” to stories like that in Philly, we as queer activists and anarchists must be on the front lines of this sheltering issue and constantly working to create safe shelters for all.

Included here are links to the NYC Trans Shelter policy, Boston Trans Shelter Policy and the NGLTF Transitioning Our Shelters report. Hopefully one day soon we will have similar policies here in Connecticut.  Till then it is a daily struggle to keep aware of those shelters that are queer friendly and affirming.