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LIFT EVERY VOICE: NEW STUDY REVEALS
STRUGGLES OF BLACK LGBTQ OREGONIANS
Photo by Erin Rook, PQ Monthly
Khalil Edwards, coordinator of the Portland PFLAG Black Chapter, co-presented the “Lift
Every Voice” report.
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
Portland PFLAG Black Chapter and the Urban League
of Portland have released a groundbreaking report that
highlights the challenges facing black LGBTQ Oregonians
and makes policy recommendations.
“We come into this world with many identities,”
PFLAG Black Chapter coordinator Khalil Edwards said
at the Oct. 11 release event. “Today we know there is
still a lot of work to do around people being safe being
their true selves.”
The report, which is the first of its kind, includes sobering
statistics about bullying, barriers to healthcare and education,
safety, and rates of incarceration. It includes insights
culled from existing studies
as well as an original study
and two focus groups. Thirty
volunteers interviewed 200
black LGBTQ Oregonians,
and collected surveys from
15 locations, such as Pride
celebrations, the Sexual
and Gender Minority Youth
Resource Center, and Cascade
AIDS Project.
“Folks were really excited
that for the first time they
were being asked what mattered
to them,” Edwards
said. “We did [focus groups]
in part to give a voice to
an often unheard population…
. We wanted to provide
an opportunity for
folks to speak beyond what the numbers can tell us.”
The numbers don’t say enough, according to Western
States Center organizer Walidah Imarisha. Though those
behind the report augmented their research with a local
survey, there were still significant gaps.
“Transgender people of color particularly are underrepresented
in many areas of research,” Imarisha said.
“We were not actually able to pull out information specifically
about trans people in our survey.”
Still, the statistics that came through were troubling. The
Lift Every Voice study found that nearly half of the respondents
(43.7 percent) earn $20,000 or less a year, while 18
percent are unemployed. These numbers are particularly
stark when combined with figures showing black lesbians
are twice as likely to be raising children as white lesbians.
The report also found
significant barriers to
healthcare access. Black
LGBTQ people experience
much higher rates of diabetes
and HIV and are more
likely to face ignorance
and abuse from medical
providers. According to
the study, 99 percent of
LGB people of color experienced
at least one barrier
to health care.
In education, the tendency
of black LGBTQ
Photo by Erin Rook, PQ Monthly
Urban League of Portland Board Chair Lolenzo Poe, City of Portland employee and activist Kathleen
Saadat, and Retired Portland Public Schools teacher Carolyn Leonard (not pictured) spoke on a
panel about the reports applications.
students to experience
harassment on multiple
levels leads to poor educational
outcomes, Imarisha
said. They are more
likely to miss class, to only have high school diploma or
GED, and to see their grades directly affected.
“I think it’s incredibly important for all of us to know
the lived reality of people in our communities,” Imarisha
said.
Katie Sawicki, urban policy associate for Urban League
lift every voicE page 29
BASIC RIGHTS OREGON CREATES FIRST TRIBAL TOOLKIT FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
Basic Rights Oregon has expanded its
racial justice work into the Native American
community with a tribal toolkit to support
Se-ah-dom Edmo presented the Tribal Toolkit to the General Assembly of the Affiliated Tribes
of Northwest Indians in Pendleton.
LGBTQ equality and an “Our Families” video
featuring the stories of LGBTQ and Two Spirit
• October/November 2012
Native Americans and their families.
The materials, which will be officially
released Nov. 12, were previewed Sept. 26
at the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
conference in Pendleton. BRO offered
a sneak peek of both the film and a draft of
“The Tribal Toolkit for Equality:
Sample Tribal Codes
to Support LGBT Justice in
Indian Country,” a step-bystep
guide for tribes seeking
to increase the inclusiveness
of their governmental institutions
and programs.
“It was an amazing
opportunity to connect with
a broad range of Native and
tribal leaders,” BRO Executive
Director Jeana Frazzini
says. “The stories of Native
American LGBT [and] Two
Spirit families was very well
received, as was the tribal
toolkit. This is a very positive
beginning of what we hope will be a
long and strong partnership.”
The toolkit is a joint effort of the Native
American Program of Legal Aid Services
of Oregon, Indigenous Ways of Knowing,
Western States Center, and BRO and covers
a wide range of topics including employment
benefits, family law, and non-discrimination
policies, according to Se-ah-dom
Edmo of Indigenous Ways of Knowing.
“The Tribal Equity Toolkit is significant
because it is the first of its kind in the nation,”
Edmo says. “Written specifically for tribes and
tribal nations, it specifically addresses areas of
concern that have historically been high priorities
for tribes — keeping families together
and strong, protection of all tribal citizens,
equity and justice and decolonization.”
The toolkit was warmly received at the
convention, according to Edmo. Four tribal
leaders — from Quinault Indian Reservation,
Swinnomish Indian Community,
Klamath Tribes, and the Makah Tribe —
thanked BRO from the floor following the
presentation. Nearly 50 elected tribal leaders
pledged their support for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people in their
tribal communities and explicitly asked for
more information about the toolkit.
“Personally and professionally, I will
remember that moment in my life as one
of the most inspirational, and this work as
my proudest accomplishment in my career
thus far,” Edmo says.
The Native American LGBT/Two Spirits
“Our Families” video will premiere at 6 p.m.
on Nov. 12 at the Native American Rehabilitation
Association of the Northwest, Inc.
(NARA), and will include a screening, a
panel discussion, and refreshments.
“The official event will start with a traditional
Native American benediction from
a respected elder,” says Kodey Park Bambino,
racial justice and alliance building
organizer for BRO. “Speakers from Basic
Rights Oregon and NARA will discuss the
significance of this intersectional work, the
uniqueness of the video, and the ways in
which Two Spirit people will continue to
play a central role in this work.”
A panel discussion will follow the presentation
during which audience members
can ask questions. To RSVP, contact Bambino
at kodey@basicrights.org.
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