“My brother lives around here … in a beautiful house with four bedrooms, they even have an extra room … And I don’t live with them because they’re homophobic. They are Christians … and they tell me homosexuals are going to hell,” said one LGBTQ+ Latiné Homelessness in Illinois: Structural Drivers of Inequality report participant who is experiencing housing instability.
ALMA Chicago, Equality Illinois, the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation (ILLCF) and La Casa Norte held a community event to share findings from the report, focusing on LGBTQ+ youth participants, Aug. 26 at La Casa Norte in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The report was done in partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) and the Racial Equity Roundtable on Latiné Homelessness. It was released this past May 18.
More than 30,000 Latiné Illinoisans currently experience “doubled-up” homelessness where they are staying with family or friends temporarily and unstably, approximately 1,000 Latiné Illinoisans are staying in shelters and there are an additional 200 Latiné Illinoisans experiencing unsheltered homelessness, according to the report.
During IRRPP Associate Director for Community Partnerships and report co-author Iván Arenas’ presentation he said, “For LGBTQ+ Latinés, their identity was often a significant factor in their housing instability due to the prevalence of strongly held Catholic beliefs and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, not only in the Latiné community but also in faith-based organizations serving unhoused populations.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ religious beliefs is just one of many things LGBTQ+ Latiné youth face, according to Arenas. He said they also experience physical danger, education challenges, employment issues and mental health and overall health care access concerns due to racial and/or LGBTQ+ discrimination. Arenas added this is especially true for trans Latiné youth who have additional barriers they have to contend with due to their gender identity.
The report’s findings were affected by the historic number of Latiné migrants who crossed the southern border and came to Illinois after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Arenas. Additionally, Arenas said the bussing of 50,000 plus of those migrants to Chicago from 2022-2024 affected the total number of Latiné homelessness in the state.
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office of Employment and Training Deputy Director Julio Rodriguez (who is also a La Casa Norte board member and ALMA’s founder and current board chair) spoke about the time he experienced homelessness as a gay 16-year-old at a time when there were very little resources.
“I’m grateful to be standing in this [La Casa Norte] space and know someone like me has a place to come to and seek support and quite frankly, just know people care,” said Rodriguez.
Equality Illinois Civic Engagement Director José “Che-Che” Wilson said that, according to a Williams Institute at UCLA study, “Between the ages of 18-25, LGBTQ+ folks are more than twice likely to experience homelessness than their heterosexual and cisgender peers.”
Wilson also spoke about the time he experienced housing insecurity. He said he could count on two hands the number of times he was in doubled-up housing while growing up due to his gay identity.
La Casa Norte Associate Director of Communications and External Affairs Andrea Magaña moderated a discussion with Illinois state Sen. Omar Aquino and Illinois state Rep. Lilian Jiménez.
Aquino said elected officials like himself need to speak out more about these issues in a public setting. He told this publication, “Housing is critical to ensuring the stability of Latiné LGBTQ+ youth, but it isn’t a singular issue. To really have the outcomes we want for these youth, we have to look at the full picture and which includes healthcare access, quality of care, wraparound support services, economic mobility and creating career pathways. This is what we focus on in the Senate, addressing all the factors that influence a young person’s success,”
Jiménez spoke about the Housing Bill of Rights she is working on that will alleviate many of the issues outlined in this report, including for Latiné LGBTQ+ people, so more people can be housed. La Casa Norte CEO José M. Muñoz also spoke.
Chicago advocates highlight housing challenges for LGBTQ+ Latiné youth
