In the Life: Ep. 1901, "Living on the Margins"

[Narrator Camille B. Atkinson] Coming up on, "In the Life," "Living on the Margins," in a tough economy. [Desiree Marshall] Where am I eating? Where am I sleeping? Where am I going to get resources and services? [Atkinson] A conversation with philanthropist, Thai Pham and activist, Rickke Mananzala. [Rickke Mananzala] You know what? I can't just sit down and watch or sit back and watch, um, our community fall deeper into crisis. And Habitat for Humanity's first-ever LGBT Unity Build Day. [Todd Oldham] It's very exciting to work with the people that are actually going to be living in these spaces. [Announcer over theme music] "In the Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] The H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In the Life," members like you. [Atkinson] Tonight on, "In the Life," documenting the people and issues shaping the gay experience, an unseen view from the front lines. [Atkinson] Community groups advocating for racial and economic justice. [Crowd cheers] [Theme music] [Atkinson over crowd noise, cheering] In the year that marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. [Atkinson] The LGBT movement is more visible than ever. [Atkinson] It has made remarkable gains in four decades. [Atkinson] Yet as gays aspire to be mainstream, many LGBT people have been left behind. [Atkinson] Queer people who do not conform to an ideal of gender, race and class, [Atkinson] fall outside of the economic norm and are largely invisible to the movement. [Atkinson] A recent report from The Williams Institute at UCLA, [Atkinson] reinforces the fact that a sizeable number of lesbians and gays are likely to be poor. [Atkinson] Next, how LGBT people living on the economic margins of our society, organized themselves to find housing, [Atkinson] obtain better skills, employment and health care. [Manny Rodriguez] I live check to check. [Rodriguez] I don't have, [Rodriguez] health insurance. I recently had to go to emergency room, and I have a bill over thousand dollars that I don't know how I'm gonna, [Rodriguez] take care of, you know. [Antonieta Gimeno] I got laid off, and the person that I was living with, asked me to leave. [Gimeno] Twice they've been I guess threatening to get my electricity off. This is in the middle of the winter. [Candy Ramos] Right now, I'm unemployed and I've been looking for fourteen months. So I was living off of unemployment. But that's gone. And, ah, so now I'm struggling out there trying to keep my place and, ah, trying to keep a roof over my head. [Joi Elle White] To work hard, and once you pay this bill. Once you pay that, once you do that, and it's like the checks you work for, you still ain't got enough. [Richard Kim] People's lives are actually at stake in the economic crisis. And we see people, um, you know, not receiving health care. Um, people actually dying. [Kim] We see the numbers of homeless people, rising dramatically across the country. [Desiree Marshall] Where am I eating? Where am I sleeping? Where am I going to get resources and services? [Joseph DiFilippis] There is no research about LGBT poverty. It's so hard to come up with data about LGBT anything right, because not everybody ident, [DiFilippis] self-identifies because a lot of people conducting surveys don't think to include us, ah, for many reasons. [Kenyon Farrow] One of the reasons why, ah, you know, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person are, more likely to be poor than, you know, say, um straight people. [Farrow] So, we still have about half of the states in the U.S., where it's still legal for an LGBT person to be fired from their job, without recourse. [Farrow] Some of it is just discrimination, um, you know, that exists, that's both based on race class and gender. [Rodriguez] Our market to find a job today, but if you're, you know, openly gay, transgender or [Rodriguez] butch, people sometimes don't wanna, um, give you a job based on how you look. [Ramos] I'll fill out an application. I'll drop it off. Everything is cool. But when I get called for an interview. When I come in, is when everything gets all, topsy turvey, doesn't work out. Because I'm good on paper. The resume's fabulous. But, ah, to them, the person is not what they're looking for, so the job is automatically filled. jobs [White] There's been jobs where I've been working and the boss didn't know, [White] and he had once came up to me, "Oh, I didn't know, but I hear that you're, [White] "you was, you're not a female. [White] "I'm okay for now, but if it cause any kind of tension, or something, I'm gonna have to let you go." [Atkinson] When a transgender member of Globe Make the Road was denied employment at a local business for being transgender. [Atkinson] The group decided to start an investigation to document how often this in fact happens. [Rodriguez] We pair people. So, we had one female and a transgender, individual. It was me partnered with a, another female, biological female. We did a series of workshops and a series of training to them on how to interview. To be sure that, the dressing was appropriate and that they basically, it was like sending twins out. We have basically the same exper, work experience, um, but, all the names were changed up and stuff. And we will go to the same jobs and apply. [Ramos] They went through the whole process of interviewing. [Ramos] Turns out that the transgenders were not, [Ramos] hired or even called back and as for the straight ones, they were called back for interviews and they were hired. [Gael Guevara] Trans and gender non-conforming people are affected, by economic barriers, um, in their lives because of discrimination in a lot of very different ways. [Kris Hayashi] When trans and gender non-conforming people, um, try to access their assistance folks face incredible discrimination and harassment. [White] I'm in the waiting room, "um, Mr. White," and I'd be like. So, when I go up there, my, And then she says my whole name, um, and I'm like, "That's me." She said, "Well, you don't need welfare, you need SSI." And I'm like, "Excuse me?" "Because any man that want to look like a female, is crazy in my book." And, I'm just like, whoa, okay. What do I do? Do I get up? Or do I act ignorant? Or, should I just sit here and just get the paperwork. [Reina Gossett] We know that sixty percent of people who have gone into the welfare office have faced discrimination in one form or another. Whether it's no, you're not allowed in this building. Or no, we're not going to help you today. Come back tomorrow looking like a man. Or come back tomorrow looking like a woman. [Hayashi] Because of the high rates of homelessness and unemployment, ah, folks really rely on public assistance and welfare to survive. Like it's really about folks being able to have access to food. [Hayashi] Access to health care. Access to housing and access to other services. [Guevara] We have worked with Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, ah, Queers for Economic Justice. A lot of other organizations in the city to advocate within the human resources administration. [Guevara] To really train the workers to know, what kind of barriers transgender people might face and how to properly address them. [Kim] Basically pushing them to give trans and gender non-conforming communities basic respect and clear access to services. [Audio redacted for copyright reasons?] [Joseph DiFilippis] Homeless in New York and to be, [DiFilippis] living in a shelter is to be as isolated as you can be, from whatever community you are connected to. And for Queer folks you are, who are in the shelter there is no, connection to a movement or community. [Jay Toole] From my own experience when I was in the system right sitting in a group of women with a case manager next to me saying and, all the women were talking about their boyfriends, their husbands, their fellows, there guys, this, this, this, all men, men, men. And I started talking about my partner, right, Sheila. And the case manager is sitting next to me went like that and, literally put her hand in front of my face and told me I can't talk about that. I need to go upstairs and talk one-on-one with my case manager. [DiFilippis] We were seeing a tremendous amount of harassment, violence, discrimination, rape, murder, happening to trans people in shelters that didn't match their gender identity. [Dwayne Bibb] I was out there man, shelter I been in the shelter, almost about a year people said things. Colored, um, different, um, faggot names and all that. [Toole] The city always says and they still say there is no violence in their shelters. [Toole] Trust me, there's violence in those shelters. [DiFilippis] We worked with three other organizations in New York City for two years, to fight with the city about this and try and educate, the Department for Homeless Services. [Guevara] The ongoing work that we continue to do is to reach out to the community and, and let them know, um, you have these rights. You have access to the shelter system. Ask for your rights, like you have a policy in place. [Gossett] Creating safety when you change the policy that says well actually I'm going to select the shelter that's, ah, safe for me. That's creating safety. And it helps other people believe that they have the power to do something like that to. [Protestors chant] [Marshall] Racial and economic justice is definitely a queer issue. We are one of the most marginalized, [Marshall] populations, and are left out of many conversations and many decisions, that are made that affect our lives. [Kim] There's a lot of grassroots energy around the country. Um, I think a mm, a lot of queer people are more progressive, further to the left then is reflected by our national organizations. [Crowd cheers] [Russell Roybal] Our country is changing. [Roybal] And the demographics of the United States will soon be much different then they have been over the last several decades. And the movements continued ignorance around racial and economic justice issues, [Roybal] is only going to compound a problem that already exists. As people of color, we need to see ourselves reflected, [Roybal] in organizations that are supposed to be serving them. Like, you know, like, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Like the Human Rights Campaign. Like other national organizations. [Guevara] We really need to build up queer and LGBT movement that really focuses on those at the bottom. The folks with the less resources. The folks that are facing multiple levels of discrimination, um, based on race, based on their gender identity, based on their, [Guevara] economic accent. [Antonieta Gimeno] I think this is where collective cooperation. You know comes to mind, that, ah, we can create situations to help one another. [Music] [Reina Gossett] Right here, forty years ago. Our people. You know, trans women, women of color. Sex workers. Our people, gay people, lesbians, took the city back. We said, no more violence for our communities. And we're continuing that legacy. That resistance to economic violence. That resistance to the welfare system. To the shelter system. Because this is our city. We create their city. We're not just, you know, cheap victims. [Gossett] We're creating safety with each other. We can make it for ourselves. We create it with each other. That's why we're here today. [Cheers] [Theme music] [Atkinson] Thai Pham is the director at the Stonewall Community Foundation. [Atkinson] Which began in the early Nineties during the AIDS crisis as a collection of funds to ensure, [Atkinson] that LGBT people had a place to designate their legacy. [Atkinson] Rickke Mananzala is the executive director of Fierce. [Atkinson] An organization founded on the principle that LGBTQ youth of color, [Atkinson] must realize and manifest their own social and political power. [Atkinson] Join Stonewall's Thai Pham and Rickke Mananzala of Fierce as they discuss economic activism and the synergy of their organizations. [Pham] We talk so much about what's going on in the mainstream movement right now. With Prop 8, with marriage. [Pham] And I think what we kind of forget is behind others, are other, [Pham] issues that are affecting community members, beyond marriage. For example, you know, well, what is it like to be, biracial, to be trans, to deal with xenophobia, and homophobia and trans, um, transphobia as well. We sent out a survey to about fifty, um, LGBT people of color organizations in New York City, [Mananzala] Mm, hmm. And the common theme, everyone who came back said, we don't have enough money. We need support. [Pham] We need you guys to leverage your resources to help us. [Mananzala] Mm, hmm. That story isn't even unique to New York City. I think you know and a number of other locations across this, you know, across this country, LGBT people of color organizations are struggling financially. Um, and in their communities. Overall the communities are struggling still with health crisis, housing crisis. [Mananzala] Unemployment rates are going up in our communities. Of course, in general across the states, but, [Pham] Disproportionately. disproportionately in our communities, people of color communities, low-income communites. And young people in particular, The young people Fierce works with right now, are experiencing unemployment rates, more so than we've ever seen in a long time. And so, [Mananzala] the fact that these organizations are on the ground, in the communities, deeply connected to, [Mananzala] um, families, um, young people. Some of the most dynamic, on the ground organizing that's happening across the country is happening in local communities. [Pham] Right. [Mananzala] Not just at the national level. [Mananzala] I mean, the majority of LGBT people of color organizations that exist, that are underfunded, um, are the ones that are actually the most connected to the communities that we all want to serve. How does Stonewall Community Foundation see itself as a part of a bigger movement. Where's your place in the movement? [Pham] We see ourselves as the resource and the funders, [Mananzala] Right. [Pham] for the movement. We strive, so hard to bring everyone together and to make sure that, you know, Fierce knows the work that, um, Patrick Martin's doing. Or even, Green Chimneys, and how does one relate to the other and how can Stonewall be there and be, like a catalyst? [Pham] Now, let's say, for example, Fierce. You know, a donor might come as hey, you know, we're interested in fighting youth programs. Like that's great because, you know, Fierce also does. They are an education community empowerment program as well. Um, your friends are interested in that? Come on board. Let us, serve as matchmakers. [Laughter] Kind of a date. [Mananzala] It's about a dating game. [Pham] It's not about dating, because we keep it real, like that you know. [Mananzala] That's right. [Pham] I think what I'm really proud of, really excited, is the work that Stonewall is doing around, getting more young professionals, involved. in philanthropy. And about three years ago, we started this initiative called the, Quarter Share Program, because realistically if you don't learn philanthropy at home, if you don't learn it at school. Where do you learn? Where do you get the value that is important to give back? [Pham] That it's hard to support the community that has given you so much. I was thinking well, you know what? [Pham] How can I get my friends involved? [Mananzala] Mm, hmm. [Pham] Now, we're [Pham] you know, in our late twenties, early thirties and, [Pham] you're just moving into your own career wise. I know a lot of us didn't have the money and you think of, Torino, philanthropist. You think of Warren Buffett or Bill Gates. someone who can write, you know, a check for a million dollars here and a million dollars there. [Pham] Why do we always think that you have to be, [Pham] wealthy, [Pham] to make a difference. And I said, "No, Why don't I apply it to myself?" How can I give back to the community and I was thinking, you know, I, pay a gym membership. You know, eighty five dollars a month is taken out my debit. I don't think about it. [Pham] It's just part of what happens. Like why can't we same, apply the same model to philanthropy? So I, um, I think no, how do I get a bunch of people together. We all contribute twenty-five dollars a month. [Mananzala] Mm, hmm. [Pham] To Stonewall Community Foundation. And, um, raise that money, at the end of the year, do something really good about it. So we thought about how can we make this, educational and fun for this group of members. [Pham] And we came up with the name of Quarter Share, um, if, I said it's very near eccentric in the sense that, um, a quarter share is what you, a share on Fire Island. Like, every fourth weekend. [Mananzala] Mm, hmmm. And so we apply the content well, how about we give, Seventy five per cent of that money goes to Stonewalls general work and the remaining twenty-five percent, goes to an organization that we choose. And this year, I'm proud to say, we're up at 175 members. [Mananzala] Wow! [Pham] Despite being a recession. Despite knowing that, you know, some of these, people are getting laid off, and they're so committed to the cause. [Pham] So we're very excited and see who's gonna come up this year as a grantee. [Mananzala] Thinking about who actually gives now, Um, it's not just wealthy people. in fact the the, [Mananzala] statistics show that actually low-income people and moderate income people are giving a larger percentage of their income to the organizations. [Pham] How did you could involved with Fierce? [Mananzala] Um, so Fierce was founded in Two Thousand. I was sixteen in 1995. My parents found out that I was queer. And, I lost their support. And, what that meant for me was I faced a lot of challenges similar to the ones that Fierce members face today, which is, having to navigate things that I shouldn't have to navigate by myself. Whether that's trying to get into school or, having to get a job really young or, um, having to, um, do a lot of things by myself that were really difficult. Um, without financial support, without emotional support, and I think, had I had an organization like Fierce, that was gonna, expose me to other young people facing similar challenges, [Mananzala] um, would have helped me feel less isolated. But more than that would provided me a vehicle to, um, channel my anger. [Mananzala] To channel my sadness and to channel, um, really the outrage that I felt, not just about my parents not supporting me, but then the challenges that I face because I didn't have that support. Rickke, I, I, love the name of Fierce, by the way. I think is fabulous. I think it's wonderful, I think it's, It's a decoration. So what it stands for is, Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment. No where is there gay or lesbian in the acronym, but fabulous is clearly the stand-in, [laughs] [Mananzala] um, for, for what that means in our community. Ah, in 1999 a number of the young people who then went on to found Fierce as an organization a year later. They were all involved in a service organization. They were there as clients seeking services being involved in programming, that was really important. When they're looking around the table, I mean, like, Oh, you're homeless. Oh, you got harassed by the cops. Are you, have you been hanging out at the pier? Have they been bothering you down there? Or did you know, the piers about to get fenced off. They're about to make it this world class park. Or your parents, um, said this and that to you or you, you left school because it's not safe. You're around the table, being like, wow it's good to not feel isolated. That I'm meeting other people who are experiencing the same thing I'm experiencing. Um, and that at the time was almost enough. It was like wow, I'm breaking isolation, and that step was important. But then they're like you know what, we're collectively facing all these really serious problems and yet, there's no organization, for us to actually identify our solutions to our problems for ourselves. Certainly people can do it on our behalf and those organizations are important. But they founded Fierce as the only political organization by and for LGBTQ youth of color in this city. [Mananzala] I think that's what we want to be remembered for and I think this kind of synergy between Fierce and Stonewall is that, you know, your donors, the people involved are still a lot of people who care about our community. [Mananzala] Um, part of their legacy is in being remembered for the choices they make with what they leave behind in resources. Um, and Fierce, you know, where our members are really acting in that spirit, too. They're saying you know what, I can't just sit down and watch or sit back and watch, um, our community fall deeper into crisis. We need to do something about it. And they really do want to be remembered for that. [Theme music] [Music] [Atkinson] For many LGBT people, the recent economic crisis reinvigorated the spirit of volunteerism. [Atkinson] At Habitat for Humanity's First LGBT Unity Build Day. [Atkinson] Community members came out in support of affordable housing, [Atkinson] while raising visibility for the movement. [Josh Lockwood] Today in Habitat for Humanity, New York City. We are having something called Unity Build. [Lockwood] It's our first-ever day of service for the LGBT community in New York City. [Troy Agard] The first word that came out of my mouth is, when and where. [Jim Gillespie] Here in New York, affordable decent shelter is a huge issue, so, I've supported Habitat for Humanity financially in the past. This is my first day, you know, here on site. [Agard] Basically what Habitat does is, you know, ah, provide homes for people, that are affordable, because nowadays when you look at the market, it's really difficult for people to afford homes [Agard] As a requirement, uh, to being a first-time homebuyer with Habitat for Humanity. As a down payment, they require you to complete hours, called sweat equity. Today, will make my hundred and fifty hour. I just think that is such a great idea is, You appreciate it so much. [Lockwood] Habitat was founded as a Christian, faith based organization, and we remain true to those tenants. We welcome people of all walks of life. All religions to our site. And the LGBT community in New York City is the strongest in the world. [Lockwood] And we are proud and happy to bring that community onto our site to help us transform our city for the better. [Rev. Dr. Katrina Foster] I thought about this, this morning, um, about the parable of the feeding of the five thousand, in the new testament, where Jesus is with his disciples. And there's a lot of people. And they need to eat. [Foster] Jesus didn't say to them, "Okay, the straight disciples, what do you have?" "Okay, the gay disciples, what do you have?" He just said you go with me? "What do you have to share?" [Foster] And he brought their not enough, And when Jesus put it all together, there was more than enough. There was super abundance. [Stan Ponte] The press is full gay rights and equality for marriage. And everything I'm seeing in the press is all about what the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community wants for ourselves. [Ponte] And I know from my own experience, [Ponte] that, that's only a part of what we fight for. What we also fight for is other people. [Armanda Squadrilli] We have a great awareness of being denied basic rights. [Agard] My current living conditions are overcrowded. And I live in a two-bedroom with my mother and grandmother. [Agard] This will also give me an opportunity to finally have my own space. [Foster] So, today as gay lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, queer, questioning people, New York, community members. We come together in this place, with our not enough and my not enough, and you're not enough, and we put it together and what we create is a home. [Drilling noise] [Michael Samuelian] It's a great way to actually, kind of, do something, that's not just kind of, write a check or not just show up at a parade. But actually, kind of, do something physical that you know helps people, um, forever. [Todd Oldham] It's very exciting to come together, work with the people that are actually going to be living in these spaces. And help the sheet rock go up. Help cut around the light switches. Do whatever we can, because you're not only investing in the future of the planet, you're investing in an individual's future. And when you can see face to face the, smile and the way their eyes light up when the room starts taking shape. It, it's just magical. It makes it all really, really worthwhile. [Agard] It allows people that can't really afford to have the American dream, have the American dream. [Jim Gillespie] I would love to see this, type of day, like a Unity Builder Friday, something that could be replicated by Habitat for Humanity Chapters across the country. [Agard] It's unfortunate, but we have people, that are still ignorant, as far as the gay community, ah, is concerned. Something like the, Unity Day Build, can show people that we're not just what, [Agard] what they might stereotype us as to be. We can do something constructive. We are people. We are people that are willing to help others. [Gillespie] It's through these small contributions that we make and increase our visibility. That we're able to gain acceptance approval and, the rights we deserve. [Oldham] Whether you want to hang sheet rock, or you just want to get up and maybe help your neighbor with their new yard. Just do something. Get out and, be a little selfless, be a lot selfless and in return, um, your heart will bloom. Thank you for watching, "In the Life." To learn more about the issues in tonight's stories, and how they affect you. Visit our website at, InthelifeTV.org. You can also watch extended interviews, sign up for monthly air date alerts, and download past episodes, 24/7. Thanks for tuning in and please join us next month. [Audio content removed due to copyright restrictions. The Black Eyed Peas, "Where Is the Love?" [Announcer over theme music] "In the Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] The H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In the Life," members like you. [Theme music] [Theme music] you