During LGBTIQ+ Pride Month, it is worth reflecting on certain aspects that remain unresolved in terms of inclusion, especially because when we talk about processes of exclusion, stigmatization, or discrimination against a community, we often forget that these phenomena occur in the micro-interactions of daily life, such as eating.
There is a growing awareness that the community does not encompass just one “prototype” of person, but rather serves as a denominator for a very broad spectrum of identities and ways of life, as well as living conditions and demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Within this spectrum, the conditions of inequality are diverse and are sometimes exacerbated by discrimination related to belonging to the community.
Among the everyday living conditions affected for many LGBTIQ+ people is the issue of food security. Organizations such as the World Food Program have emphasized the need to make visible the discrimination experienced by members of this community, which often threatens their basic living conditions, such as access to food. This phenomenon has been studied to understand why these conditions make a portion of the community living in poverty more vulnerable. This vulnerability is heightened because social stigma means that many are not supported by their closest social circles and are forced to live in precarious situations, or even because social programs aimed at eradicating hunger tend to focus more on other vulnerable populations.
Furthermore, for example, with the covid crisis, many people who were already living in precarious conditions had to stop working, increasing food insecurity. Studies conducted by the World Food Program have also observed that discrimination against some members of the community is more pronounced. For instance, there are cases of trans women who have reported that when they show their identification at food aid centers or even in some food stores, they are sometimes mocked or insulted by staff. In fact, it has been found that food insufficiency is more pronounced in the transgender community than among other members of the collective. Research in the United States has shown that the LGBTIQ+ community in general experiences more situations of poverty at some point in their life trajectory. In addition, many community members live without the support of their nuclear families, even as minors, which clearly impacts their health and well-being by limiting their access to food.
Particularly in the United States, there has been interest in studying how the LGBTIQ+ community has received and experienced the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the government’s assistance program to eradicate food insecurity, where greater food insecurity has been identified among LGBTIQ+ community members.
Within the scientific community, there is consensus on the need to make visible the community’s food conditions in relation to their life trajectories, since the mechanisms and scope of discrimination and exclusion are complex and may have unidentified aspects that, on a daily basis, represent vulnerability and suboptimal living conditions for many people.
— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.
Read in El Economista →