Pt I: An Unjust Criminal Justice System

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

Entering the System

How many LGBT felons do you know?

LGBT youth and adults enter the criminal justice system due to three main factors, which lead to their increased criminalization. Each of these factors is onset by discrimination, which is unjustly put upon these people who largely lack the means to defend or prepare themselves when encountered by the law.

Today, we will focus on factor one of Entering the System: Discrimination and stigma push LGBT adults and youth into the system, according to “Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People” (Center for American Progress, Movement Advancement Project).

LGBT Youth

Family rejection of LGBT young people by way of discrimination plays a significant role. According to Unjust, “In a survey of LGBT young people between the ages of 13 and 17, one-quarter (26%) said non-accepting families were the most important problem in their lives, while non-LGBT young people listed other top concerns such as: classes, exams, and grades; college and career; and financial pressures.”

Social, fiscal and petty problems should be the main stresses of a young adult – not being homeless or unloved.

Family instability and poverty is a noteworthy problem. For some families, a youth may have to leave home and be separated from their families. For others, a parent may lack legal authorization to reside in the States, and that parent may be forced to leave. And yet for others, domestic violence, abuse or mental health problems can make home unsafe.

Negative experiences in the child welfare system are yet another impediment. LGBT youth are overrepresented in the system. For example, in Los Angeles County, California, nearly 19 percent of foster youth identify as LGBT. That’s almost twice as many as the population whole in Los Angeles (Unjust).

An increased rate of homelessness follows. LGBT young adults are also overrepresented in the homeless population. These LGBT youths find it hard to complete their education and are in turn at risk of police contact and being pushed into the juvenile or criminal justice systems. 20 percent of transgender youth and 15 percent of LGBQ youth have experienced these systems (Unjust). And, in a lot of cases, their parents could be contacted – only to meet their LGBT child with more hostility.

Unsafe school environments due to sexual orientation or gender identity can force these LGBT young adults to defend themselves or to stop going to school altogether. In comparison to other bullied students, LGBT youths in particular are at risk of substance abuse, mental health problems, absences, suicidal tendencies and lower future aspirations.

According to Unjust, “The 2013 National School Climate Survey found that more than half of LGBT middle and high school students (56%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and four in ten students (39%) felt unsafe because of how they expressed their gender.”

This problem with unsafe school environments also reinforces the “school-to-prison pipeline”, which can onset by corrective disciplinary systems. The factors involved here are the disproportionate discipline they experience as a result of being LGBT, increased police presence at school and the zero-tolerance policies set up by school systems. So, “punitive measures such as suspensions, expulsions, and school-based arrests are increasingly used to deal with student misbehavior, and huge numbers of youth are pushed out of school and into prisons and jails” (Unjust).

When these LGBT youths are separated from their families, they may find themselves without a home and possibly living in an unsatisfactory situation – maybe even on the streets. Without a proper guardian, these youths face their own set of challenges. They lack support and therefore have an increased safety risk as well as a higher interaction with law enforcement, who have their own discriminatory practices.

LGBT Adults

LGBT people experience employment discrimination in high rates, both when looking for work and when on the job. This can increase their economic instability. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey says that transgender people have reported twice the unemployment rate of the general population. This highway to poverty can also lead to incarceration, as a number of events can transpire while desperate for a living.

In its paltriest of forms, discrimination in the workplace is high. 62 percent of LGBT workers “report hearing jokes or derogatory comments about LGBT people at work, while 78 percent of transgender workers report being harassed, mistreated, or discriminated against at work” (Unjust).

Housing discrimination and homelessness are another highlighting impetus. Housing discrimination makes it both more difficult and more expensive to find a home, leading to “unstable housing” or shelters. Homeless individuals have more opportunities to run into law enforcement, thus increasing their chance of incarceration.

Healthcare discrimination against transgender people haunts the LGBT community. Even for transgender people with health insurance, sometimes their personal needed care is not covered. Insurance companies can still exclude care for transitions, which denies a range of vital services such as mental health, hormone replacement and reconstructive surgeries.

Documented identity is a giant problem – transgender people have ongoing trouble updating their identification to match their gender identity. This creates a halt on driving a car, using a credit card, applying for a job, going to school, voting or even boarding a plane. Harassment in these situations is the least of a transgender person’s worries if they can’t be identified.

There is a lack of social services for vulnerable people with mental and physical health issues or financial struggles. Without mental health services, for which many states cut funding, law enforcement is frequently put in the face of those in crisis. In other words, people who need assistance the most will ask for it, but don’t get it; and then when they have a crisis, they are faced with situations that could land them in a criminal position.

Join us next week to review Entering the System: Discriminatory enforcement of laws criminalizes LGBT people.

The Gayly – 3/7/2016 @ 9:30 a.m. CST