Homelessness among members of the San Antonio-area LGBTQ+ community has jumped dramatically, with youth and Black residents especially hard hit, according to a new study by Trinity University and Pride Center San Antonio.
The report Queer Health is the Ultimate Wealth, based on online surveys collected from 685 LGBTQ+ residents last year, shows that 28.5% experienced homelessness in their lifetimes — a 10% increase from a similar 2020 analysis. A total of 6% reported being unhoused in the past year.
San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ youth are especially vulnerable, the data indicate. One in five respondents said they experienced homelessness before the age of 25. What’s more, transgender and nonbinary people face higher rates of homelessness — 32% reported being homeless at least once in their lifetime, while 7% were unhoused in the past year.
The problem is also worse along racial lines, according to the research. Nearly 40% of Black LGBTQ+ respondents said they experienced homelessness at some point, and 30% reported being kicked out of their homes for being LGBTQ+, or nearly twice the rate of other groups.
Indeed, family rejection is a central cause of homelessness and housing security in the San Antonio area, according to study author Amy L. Stone, a Trinity University sociology professor and co-director of the Family, Housing and Me Project.
“People as young as 16 are taking our surveys, so those between the ages of 16 and 24 or 25, they were much more impacted by being rejected by family members,” Stone told the Current. “A lot of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds also depend on family for housing. It’s really hard to get your own apartment in this economy, and so when their family refuses to have them live there anymore, they often end up unhoused.”
Stone said homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth is likely exacerbated by a nationwide push by right-wing lawmakers to punish and strip rights from transgender people. In Texas alone, lawmakers filed more than 100 anti-trans bills this year and passed several bills diminishing support and protections for LGBTQ+ youth.
“I think it’s highly likely this rhetoric is having an impact as more youth identify as LGBTQ — particularly as transgender or non-binary — and do so younger,” Stone said. “It creates more unhoused situations for youth, and it creates parents who more have more of a political opinion about these kinds of things.”
Justin Holley, executive director of THRIVE Youth Center, which provides emergency shelter for LGBTQ+ youth, said he’s seen the numbers in the study in real time and agrees with Stone’s assessment about political rhetoric worsening the problem.
“Ongoing efforts to dehumanize our population only exacerbate the crisis, pushing these rates even higher,” Holley said in a statement supplied to the Current. “The path to reversing these devastating trends lies in compassion, love, community acceptance, and the delivery of direct, affirming services.”
The report also suggests housing instability is snowballing into a mental-health crisis for San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ community. More than 47% of those surveyed said they worry about losing their housing. Further, those with the highest anxiety levels about losing their homes were twice as likely to have experienced suicidal thoughts, according to the data.
Stone urged city leaders understand the gravity of the crisis outlined in the new study. Reversing the trend will require investing in LGBTQ-affirming housing services, expanding family acceptance programs and ensuring local shelters and homeless service providers are trained to serve the LGBTQ+ community, the professor added.
“This is the first time we’ve had really solid data on the extent of the issue, in terms of having a big enough sample to understand that this has changed and it’s gotten worse,” Stone said. “So, I think local leaders really need these numbers to be able to ascertain that it’s a problem, and we now have to acknowledge it.”
Lex Loro, interim executive director of Pride Center San Antonio said rising acceptance of San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ individuals won’t reverse the crisis. Loro urged city leaders to take concrete steps to provide assistance programs targeted to queer individuals.
“We need our entire community — city leaders, funders, service providers, and neighbors — to step up with us and treat this as the emergency it is,” Loro said in a statement. “Our LGBTQ+ community members need more than acceptance — they need San Antonio to invest in proven solutions: emergency housing, mental health programs and trained providers who understand our community’s unique challenges.”
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