New poll finds about half of Rochester's LGBTQ community feels at risk of attack
Nearly half of LGBTQ people in the Rochester area feel at risk of verbal or physical attacks, according to recently released survey data.
According to the data:
50% of LGBTQ people fear a verbal attack and 45% fear a physical attack
63% know of a specific instance of discrimination, and 50% have witnessed one themselves
50% believe discrimination against LGBTQ people is problem and 32% say it has worsened in the last few years; among non-LGBTQ people, 8% believe it is a problem and 16% believe it has worsened
"We know that words can turn deadly, as we saw with the horrific mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs last month,” Karen Elam, the Levine Center's executive director, said in a statement. “We are continuing to find that the responses to our survey underscore the fear that members of minority groups in our community are feeling.”
From USA TODAY:'Hate starts with speech': Club Q survivors, LGBTQ leaders testify on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, violence
The polling came as no surprise to Javannah Davis, founder of a local support organization for transgender and non-binary people called Wave Women Inc.
"I think Rochester has a lot of growing up to do in terms of educating itself on all members of its community and allowing people to be heard," she said. "I have seen efforts made for improvements, but we still have a ways to go."
Davis works in health care and said she has seen many instances where people were misgendered or lacked access to appropriate health care due to their gender identity.
She also noted that people of color who are LGBTQ are more likely to face discrimination than their white counterparts. One national poll from 2020, for example, showed that 68% of LGBTQ people of color reported negative or discriminatory treatment from a health care provider compared to 27% of white LGBTQ people.
A Penfield High School student who is part of the LGBTQ community and requested anonymity to avoid online harassment said that while school mostly feels like a safe place, she sometimes feels on guard in more conservative parts of the region.
The student mentioned as well a chilling effect this fall after the private Christian Charles Finney School, whose campus borders Penfield High School, said it might unenroll students if they identified as LGBTQ.
"I'm friends with a lot of people who are out and proudly queer, and then two minutes away, you're not allowed to be that way, and you have to fit into a mold," she said. "There's a fear just because of the proximity and knowing I live in a community with these people who feel it's a sin and shouldn't be allowed."
The data is the latest from the Levine Center to End Hate's "State of Hate" survey, conducted among 843 people between September 2021 and March 2022 in the nine-county metropolitan area.
Previous installments from the survey data have shown evidence of reported discrimination or harassment against women, people of color, people with disabilities and Jewish people, as well as an increasing recognition of the need to better counteract hateful messaging and actions.
The path forward to more equitable treatment depends on education and a willingness to empathize with others, Davis said.
"When we walk out our doors, we’re just like anyone else," she said. "We just want to live our lives and not have to worry about whether we’re coming back home."
Contact staff writer Justin Murphy at jmurphy7@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Levine Center poll finds Rochester LGBTQ people feel at risk of attack
