Author: Hope Davenport Major: Political Science & International Studies
During the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, I conducted a research project investigating the conditions experienced by LGBTQ+ homeless individuals in Arkansas. I intended to visit 7 Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville and the Gathering Center (renamed for privacy), an LGBTQ+ specific shelter in Little Rock to conduct interviews with beneficiaries of each facility. While the staff of both shelters were originally willing to work with me on this project, only the Gathering Center ended up allowing me to conduct interviews with their beneficiaries. There is currently very little data regarding homelessness in Arkansas and none whatsoever pertaining specifically to LGBTQ+ people in Arkansas experiencing homelessness. Research done elsewhere suggests that LGBTQ+ homeless individuals face challenges that are not experienced by cisgender heterosexual people experiencing homelessness. I think it is essential that Arkansas has data that could be used in the future by facilities to justify funding for LGBTQ+ specific services for its beneficiaries. The research consisted of participants completing both qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys concerning their experience with homelessness.
This project was not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of all of the problems faced by homeless Arkansans and the solutions to those problems, as the sample size is relatively small. Nor is this meant to be an indictment of the current practices operating at the facility where interviews were conducted, though the interviews did inquire into what services the facility may be lacking. Rather, my primary aim with this project was to lay the foundation for further research to come in this field by comparing the conditions experienced in a shelter that caters specifically to the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals with those experienced at a shelter that does not provide these specialized services. Because I was unable to conduct interviews in the unspecialized shelter, the comparison element is not possible. However, I believe there is valuable insight to be gleaned from the data gathered at the Gathering Center.
My advisor, Dr. Marcia Shobe, has been absolutely invaluable throughout this whole process. Her extensive experience in social work has allowed her to help me draft consent forms and interview guides that will lead to informative answers without exploiting the participants. She has even generously provided me with the means of compensating participants for their time in the form of $25 gift cards. Most of my first semester was spent doing preliminary research into studies conducted with LGBTQ+ homeless individuals elsewhere as well as setting up interview dates with the two facilities. I was in communication with both 7 Hills and the Center since August, and they had been updated throughout the IRB approval process to ensure their approval of all interview questions, as the sensitive nature of the subject matter has the potential to lead to invasive questioning of individuals who are already in a vulnerable position.
My interviews were conducted at two separate dates in January at the Center in Little Rock. Though I had called and left multiple voicemails with 7 Hills, they never contacted me about setting up interview dates. For the dates that I was able to interview participants, I drove down and interviewed between four and eight individuals regarding their particular experience with homelessness as well as their perception of the conditions at their facility. The rest of the semester was spent analyzing the data and subsequently drawing conclusions.
The figures are all compiled from the quantitative surveys given to the participants, but while they are helpful for getting a feel for the necessity and effectiveness of the Center at a glance, they do not tell the full story. The qualitative interviews I conducted gave me a deeper insight into the lives and experiences of gay and transgender Arkansans experiencing homelessness. I spoke with both gay and straight as well as transgender and cisgender individuals, transgender meaning a person who does not agree with the gender they were assigned at birth and cisgender meaning someone who does agree with the gender they were assigned at birth. The Center was created in honor of a transgender woman from Little Rock who was murdered because of her gender identity, and the shelter does a lot to help transgender people in particular.
One of the participants in this study explained how the most valuable service the Center provided her as a transgender woman was gender-affirming clothing and makeup. These items make her feel more comfortable in her own skin, and they can go a long way toward boosting mental health. Another said participant said that the Center was important to her because they provide her with a place to sleep, as she felt unsafe sleeping on the street at night due to the threats of sexual violence she faced because of her identity, primarily from other homeless individuals. Others noted their appreciation that the Center helped them with job applications and provided them with cell phones, which are integral to obtaining and maintaining a job. The assistance with job hunting is especially crucial in Arkansas, where there is still no statewide anti-discrimination law in place for sexuality and gender identity.
From this study, I have concluded that there is a definite need for homeless centers in Arkansas that are sensitive to the specialized needs of LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness. Whether it comes from other homeless people or from their own families, LGBTQ+ people do experience threats of violence because of their gender identity or sexuality. This study was helpful to me in that it gave me experience collecting data that can be used to justify policy changes. As someone who has previously worked in advocacy for policy changes, I feel it was important for me to understand the process of generating research used to advocate for these changes myself.
This is my first experience not only with human research, but also with conducting research in general. The approval process to work with human participants took much longer than expected and was extremely frustrating at times. After a few false starts last semester, the project was finally approved by IRB. It was extremely disappointing that I was unable to complete interviews with 7 Hills for two reasons; firstly, it would have meant that this project would have had a larger sample size, as the project size was essentially cut in half without their participation. Second, I was really hoping to be able to compare the differences between a shelter that specializes in LGBTQ+ homeless needs and one that did not. Without that element of comparison, it is very difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the specialized shelter.