Fighting the Issue of LGBT Poverty

Want to know what some of the best recommendations are for remedying LGBT poverty?  Check out Poverty in America blogger Leigh Graham's blog over here at change.org for a great entry looking at the statistics on LGBT poverty, courtesy of a report from the Center for American Progress (CAP).  The news is particularly bad when looking at how poverty affects lesbians, showing once again that gender is a critical component when it comes to economics.  Here are some stats from Leigh's post:

• "24 percent of lesbian and bisexual women between the ages of 18-44 are living in poverty in contrast to only 19 percent of heterosexual women.
• 6.9 percent of lesbian couples, 4.0 percent of gay male couples, and 5.4 percent of married heterosexual couples are living below the federal poverty line.
• The poverty rate for families with children is 9.4 percent for lesbian families, 5.5 percent for gay male families, and 6.7 percent for heterosexual married families.
• The poverty rate for lesbian couples 65 years of age and older is particularly high, with 9.1 percent living below the poverty line compared to 4.9 percent for gay male couples 65 or older and 4.6 percent for heterosexual married couples 65 and older."

According to Leigh, the report from CAP offers a range of policy recommendations, including providing marriage equality and its associated economic benefits, reducing gender wage discrimination, and fighting employment discrimination.

But perhaps more importantly, Leigh notes that in order to fight the issue of LGBT poverty head on, gay rights activists themselves should learn from and bridge anti-poverty efforts led by communities of color or by women's and youth advocate groups.  That's some sage advice, especially for a movement that all too often overlooks the issue of poverty.