OMAHA, NE – As the LGBT Community becomes more and more accepted by mainstream society, it becomes easier to look at some of the problems within the LGBT Community’s framework. According to the 2010 American Community Survey, LGBT families are more racially and ethnically diverse than families headed by married heterosexual couples;

41 % of same-sex couples with children identify as people of color compared to 34% of married different-sex

couples with children. Here’s a link from LGBTmap.org with more information.

I have heard many LGBT people scoff at this point, but the fact is LGBT People of Color experience higher levels of discrimination, both in mainstream society and within their own LGBT Community. According to a study by the NGL Task Force, reported by SDGLN, “A key finding of the original report was that, even given the high levels of discrimination against all transgender people in the U.S., transgender people of color including American Indians and Alaskan Natives consistently reported even greater discrimination and experienced worse outcomes than the sample overall”. Not one thing even mentions dating. LGBT People of Color are also subject to more instance s of violence as well.

When it comes to murder victims, 70% of murder victims who are LGBT are also people of color. The report documents from The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reports 27 anti-LGBT murders in 2010, which is the second highest annual total recorded since 1996. A whopping 70 percent of these 27 victims were people of color; 44 percent of them were transgender women. As you can see violence against LGBT people of color is an overwhelming percentage of LGBT victims of violence. Hopefully with more awareness and inclusiveness within our own community we can help improve the situation.