January 29, 2004

Foundation, Equity Action release first-ever study of state’s LGBT communities
Whether you walk out your front door in Providence, Newport, Cranston, Warwick, Wakefield or any of the state’s other 34 cities and towns, your neighbors will include gays and lesbians, as well as other Rhode Islanders with different gender identities, a new study entitled “Meet the Neighbors” being released today will report.

And your fellow Rhode Islanders are experiencing regular acts of discrimination, even though they are hard-working, well-educated, charitable, and law-abiding citizens.

“Meet the Neighbors” is the first major product of a new initiative, Equity Action, established by The Rhode Island Foundation last year to support the equitable treatment of LGBTQ residents in the state.

“Despite many positive events of the last few years – including the election of an openly-gay mayor in Providence, the appointment of a gay bishop to the Episcopal Church, and the decision in Canada to allow gay marriages -- we still have a climate of misconceptions and prejudice rather than understanding and compassion,” said Ronald V. Gallo, Ed.D., president and CEO of the Foundation.

According to Gallo and Equity Action’s co-chairs, former legislator Nancy Hetherington and Peter Hocking from Brown University’s Swearer Center, “Meet the Neighbors” culminates a six-month survey of 371 lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queer individuals (LGBTQ), as well as interviews with community leaders and nonprofit organizations and agencies.

“The study was a necessary first step for Equity Action,” Hetherington pointed out. “Both the statistics and the anecdotal information in ‘Meet the Neighbors’ will instruct us how to make grants, where to prioritize our activities, and what the different LGBTQ communities identify as needs.”

Hocking agreed, noting that Equity Action has already raised nearly $100,000 towards a national challenge from the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership (NLGCFP); if the Foundation and Equity Action raise $200,000, the national group will contribute an additional $100,000. Most of the money will go directly into grantmaking, said Hocking; the rest will establish a permanent endowment at the Foundation to address LGBTQ issues in perpetuity.

“The grantmaking doors are open today, and people can go to our website (www.rifoundation.org/equity_action) today to find out how to apply. But we expect applicants to have reviewed the findings of this report, and more importantly, its conclusions and recommendations,” said Hocking.

Hardworking, well-educated, and charitable
“I am a typical Rhode Islander. My primary connections are to my family. I spend Saturday and Sundays with family. Being part of the LGBT community is just a slice of my life.”

The study, conducted by John Snow, Inc. of Boston (JSI), found an LGBTQ community that is largely Rhode Island-born, but more educated and fully employed than the “average” Rhode Islander.

Among the statistical findings supporting that conclusion, “Meet the Neighbors” reports that:

• One third of those who responded to the questionnaire are Rhode Island born and bred; more than half (54%) have lived here 15 years or more,
• 85% are white/Caucasian, 5.4% Black, and 4.3% Latino (versus 85%, 4.5%, and 8.7%, respectively, nationwide),
• 81.1% of the LGBTQ respondents have obtained a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, versus 25.6% of all Rhode Islanders,
• 11.4% were military veterans, vs. 12.9% of Rhode Islanders and 12.7% nationwide,
• 77.2% work full or part-time versus 64.7% of all Rhode Islanders,
• 65.8% had household incomes from $25,000-$100,000, compared to less than the 70.9% nationwide rate, but 21.4% had incomes more than $100,000, versus 11.4% nationwide, and
• 54% had volunteered in the past 12 months, versus 44% of all Rhode Islanders; slightly more than half (52%) reported making charitable gifts to one or more organizations, versus the 33% of Rhode Islanders who claimed charitable deductions on their income tax returns.

One of five report harassment or discrimination
“Someone told my father I was a lesbian, and he kicked me out of the house”

“I live in an elderly complex, so I have to hide it. It’s stifling; like I am not being real”

Despite the positive attributes of the state’s LGBTQ residents, they are also regularly harassed or discriminated against, “Meet the Neighbors” charges.

“Virtually every respondent could point to act of bias, not once or twice in their lives, but in each and every year of their lives,” said Hetherington. LGBTQ respondents reported that:

• one of 10 experiences or witnesses homophobia or discrimination in the workplace at least monthly,
• one of three suffers discrimination on the street and/or at a public establishment, and
• 10% experience some form of discrimination by professionals.

In the last year (12 months), please indicate whether you have experienced or witnessed harassment of LGBT individuals.
	More than 1x/day	Daily	Weekly	Monthly	Yearly
At work	2.0%	3.1%	4.2%	10.2%	14.4%
At school*	6.5%	9.1%	9.1%	19.5%	18.2%
At home	0.8%	1.4%	2.0%	6.2%	5.6%
On street	1.7%	3.2%	5.7%	22.4%	32.8%
At a public establishment	1.1%	2.5%	5.1%	21.2%	32.2%
By a firefighter, police officer, or other civil servant	0.3%	0.8%	1.1%	6.8%	15.9%
At place of worship	0.3%	0.6%	2.3%	1.4%	4.8%
By friends	1.1%	0.0%	3.1%	4.5%	17.1%
By professionals	0.6%	1.4%	1.7%	10.0%	27.1%

“That translates to an oppressive daily living experience,” added Hocking. “Another set of statistics from ‘Meet the Neighbors’ shows that LGBTQ individuals are afraid to reveal their sexual orientations or gender identities even to family members and non-LGBTQ friends.”

How open ("out") are you regarding your sexual orientation / gender identity?

	Not Open	Somewhat Open	Very Open
Family
Parents	13.3%	16.7%	61.1%
Siblings	11.3%	13.2%	61.1%
Children	7.3%	4.3	18.4%
Other Family	19.2%	33.1%	40.7%
Friends
LGBT friends	.6%	4.4%	94.5%
Non-LGBT friends	5.1%	30.0%	64.0%
Work
Supervisors	20.5%	15.8%	49.3%
Coworkers	16.7%	21.8%	49.0%
School
Teachers	10.8%	10.2%	15.1%
Counselors	9.2%	3.9%	17.6%
Other Students	9.4%	8.6%	17.1%

Interviews and focus groups reveal top priorities, but resources are needed
“We’ve lulled ourselves and become complacent into thinking we have our rights and we’re okay, but we’re not. We need to look at how well the law that protects our civil rights is doing. With people with different needs and resources, the law might have different effects.”

“We should support ways to build leadership for the future of the LGBT community and identify who we are not reaching.”

“Get into schools and educate!”

While the statistics will be helpful for future planning, interviews with 18 community leaders and 16 groups and agencies identified the priorities for both Equity Action and the LGBTQ community at large, the advocacy group’s leaders stated.

Among those were:

• ensuring safe schools and youth services,
• advocating for civil rights and protection,
• expanding access to welcoming health care,
• recognizing the needs of LGBTQ elders,
• supporting families,
• creating a community/resource center, and
• sustaining HIV services.

"The front line will be the organizations working directly on these issues,” said Hetherington. “Whether it’s YouthPride dealing with the fragile period of adolescence, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) pressing on the political concerns, Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE) ensuring the dignity of our seniors, or AIDS Project Rhode Island protecting the health of all people against the crisis of AIDS, the battle for equity is fought by the organizations who address these issues every day.”

But, “Meet the Neighbors” reveals, of seven LGBT specific groups surveyed, five had no paid staff, two had no operating funds while three had assets less than $50,000.

Equity Action offers opportunities for everyone to participate
“Equity Action will stimulate and look to the LGBTQ and ‘straight’ communities alike to propose the best solutions and blueprints to address all of the issues raised in ‘Meet the Neighbors’,” said Hocking. He said both the grantmaking and The Rhode Island Foundation.

Equity Action’s capacity to convene disparate organizations will make this advocacy with and on behalf of the LGBTQ populations more powerful than ever before.

“And there’s a place around the table for everyone. We’ll be looking to policymakers and government leaders at all levels of town and state government to work with us around matters they can change, in the schools, in the health clinics, and elsewhere.

“We’ll be looking to Rhode Islanders to help us reach our $200,000 challenge by the end of this year with whatever support they can provide. But we’ll be right back striving for $500,000 and then a million dollars,” Hocking admitted. “There’s so much that can be done with proper resources.”

Hocking and Hetherington said copies of “Meet the Neighbors” can be obtained free of charge from The Rhode Island Foundation by downloading copies at www.rifoundation.org/equity_action or by calling Kris Hermanns at (401) 274-4564.

For more information or to nominate someone to serve on the Equity Action Advisory Council, go to www.rifoundation.org/equity_action, or email Kris Hermanns at khermanns@rifoundation.org.