8.0 Learning Objectives and Introduction

Introduction

Robinson (2020) conducted a qualitative study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth homelessness in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Their research included fieldwork at queer youth shelters. He also interviewed ten service providers, and 40 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness. Robinson used a sociological eye to shed light on an apparent paradox. In recent years, LGBTQ civil rights such as federal legalization of same-gender marriage have expanded. Further, people are coming out as LGBTQ at earlier than in past generations.

By focusing on LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness, Robinson (2020) draws attention to how broader inequality leads to such homelessness. They point to how stratification enables some families to support their LGBTQ children better. For example, supporting a child’s gender expression or sexual identity may prove impossible for families facing racial and class-based inequality. In contrast, middle-class White parents have access to more resources to educate themselves about LGBTQ issues and to advocate for their LGBTQ child’s healthcare or education.

Robinson (2020) argues that all (or most) parents care for and love their children. However, being able to act on that care “requires networks, resources, and other societal privileges” (p. 50). Privileged parents are in a position that allows them to modify the way they socialize their child to support that child’s gender and sexual identity with less risk of outsiders intervening. They also have more power to push back against other agents of social control. These agents of social control, such as schools, may resist using a child’s new name, for instance. Parents with more resources, however, are better able to push back and get schools and others to respect their child’s identity.

Robinson (2020) also suggests that the higher number of low-income LGBTQ youth of color experiencing homelessness is also part of the social structure. For example, the economy is not kind to youth. Most jobs available to young people pay minimum wage and do not provide enough hours. Low wages and unaffordable housing make it challenging for young people to achieve self-sufficiency. LGBTQ youth who were already poor cannot rely on financial help from their families to launch them into adulthood. In other words, these youth are already at greater risk of experiencing homelessness (some of their research participants had been homeless with their families as children).

Photo 8.1

LGBTQ Have a High Risk of Experiencing Homelessness

Homeless woman and man [Photograph]. redhumv from Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro.

Chapter 8 addresses how social change and social reproduction co-exist in the areas of gender, sex, and sexuality. Gender and sexual minoritized people have made huge legal and social gains. Some groups seek to halt these changes, although public attitudes and government policies do not always align with each other. Discrimination and prejudice against gender and sexual minorities are embedded in society. They are reproduced through socialization such that even when laws change to increase the rights of women and LGBTQ people, these groups still face barriers.