Poverty in the LGBT Community

Study Looks at Poor Among Gay & Lesbian Families

Lesbian couples are more likely to be poor than married heterosexuals, and children of same-sex parents are twice as likely to live in poverty as those of traditional married couples, a new report shows.
UCLA's Williams Institute, which studies gay issues, says its report out today is the first to analyze poverty among gay and lesbian couples.

The report is an analysis of the most recent data on same-sex unmarried partners from the 2000 Census and two smaller surveys that include questions on sexual orientation. Together, it argues, they debunk "a popular stereotype (that) paints lesbians and gay men as an affluent elite."

More:
Washington Blade: Gays/Lesbians More Likely to be Poor than Straights
Bilerico: The End of "Gay Affluence"

Memphis and the Great Gay Migration

Gay blogger, and former Memphian, Chris Crain has an inciteful analysis of the Great Gay Migration and the impact on cities like Memphis. There is growing concern here in Memphis about the migration of wealth and tax revenue out of the city and the mounting financial crises and social problems left behind. Crain points out that cities that have benefited from the migration of upper income people have at least one thing in common--a large and influential gay community. This may explain part of the reason that cities like Nashville are more culturally and economically advanced than Memphis, which continues to suffer from poor race relations and the combination of homophobia and a small politically weak gay community.