Last week, the Gay and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society (or GLITS) opened the first housing complex purchased by trans people for trans people in the country. The facility is located in Queens, New York.
GLITS is committed to aiding the trans community by offering a variety of services and resources, including the new complex’s 12 fully furnished units for trans individuals. In their mission statement, GLITS lists housing as one of its priorities because many members of the trans community “are without stable housing, deepening the cycle of disenfranchisement.”
Although housing discrimination based on gender identity is prohibited under the Fair Housing Act, 1 in 5 transgender people in the U.S. has faced discrimination based on their gender and 1 in 10 have been evicted for it. These factors, compOunded with discrimination from families and homeless shelters, has left an exceptional need for housing services created with trans people in mind.
GLITS previously referred those in need of housing to shelters they had reviewed and/or assessed but this week, the organization reached their goal of creating “a major housing facility for people of trans experience and trans sex workers, that includes provisions for safe, emergency, and long term shelter, mental and physical health care, legal services, job placement, and other general support services as they transition from homelessness to independent living.” Through fundraising and continued advocacy, GLITS’s founder Ceyenne Doroshow was able to purchase the multi-unit housing complex in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens.
On Friday, Doroshow opened the complex’s doors and told the crowd gathered to celebrate.
“When I am dead and gone, I want you to know that it was a Black trans woman that bought this building for you, for community. This was created from love and out of love and it will continue to be that,” she said.
The housing complex marks an incredible milestone for trans aid and housing efforts during one of the most difficult years for the community in recent years. Doroshow and GLITS’ work serve as a reminder of the trailblazing and pioneering Black trans women continue to be responsible for and the trans community’s resilience.