Urvashi Vaid (Photo by The Laura Flanders Show)
Veteran activist Urvashi Vaid is leading a newly-formed group of activists and scholars who have come together to form an independent national research project focused on the concerns of LGBTQ women. More than 100 organizations have joined on as partners in an effort to “center the concerned of LGBTQ+ women for policy-makers and advocates.”
Vaid explained, “We had to create an independent project to get this work off the ground. It’s outrageous that it’s 2021, and this will be the first national survey about the needs and priorities of LGBTQ+ women specifically.
“For queer women to advocate effectively we need this data to deepen the gender focus of our movements, and to get the services and resources our community needs at a local, state and federal level,” she added.
The survey will be housed at Emory University, under the leadership of Professor Alyasah Ali Sewell, a respected and widely-published sociologist on the political economy of race, neighborhoods and health, and it will look at all aspects of LGBTQ women’s lives, from workplace issues and education to family life, from religious and political affiliation to sexuality and gender expression.
Jaime M. Grant, research director for the project, noted that the survey is launching “in the context of an incredibly violent and challenging year for LGBTQ+ women,” in which the COVID-19 pandemic has “fomented a marked increase in interpersonal violence, while the murders of transwomen have continued unabated,” and “economic precarity and job loss have disproportionately impacted women across the board,” according to the press release announcing the survey.
“How has this perfect storm of displacement, disease and increasing violence impacted LGBTQ women?” Grant asked. “As usual, nobody knows. Well, it is time we build that knowledge base together. Everyone in the community needs to take this survey.”
— Tammye Nash
