Homelessness hits record high nationwide
• The lack of affordable housing is the biggest reason why homelessness increased by a record 18.1 percent from January 2023 to January 2024, says a new report.
• Housing costs grew 18 percent from 2020 to 2024, noted the report (National Alliance to End Homelessness). The country is more than 7 million units short of meeting affordable housing need.
• More than 31 percent of people experiencing homelessness are Black.
• In Illinois, homelessness grew by 116 percent, with the city of Chicago accounting for almost all of that increase (Fox 32 Chicago).
• In Iowa, homelessness decreased by less than 1 percent, according to the report.
LGBTQ progress during Biden/Harris, in Congress, and for veterans
• A list of 13 achievements on behalf of LGBTQ people listed by the Biden/Harris White House last week includes federal protection for marriage equality, ending a ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men, and creating a position that helped explain to the public the damage of book bans. The release touts the Biden/Harris administration’s tenure from 2021 to 2025 as “the most pro-equality Administration in American history.”
• This year is a record-setter for LGBTQ+ representation in Congress, with the greatest number of openly LGBTQ+ Representatives ever (13), reports WJBD. The newly elected representatives include the first-ever openly transgender member of Congress (Delaware’s Sarah McBride), the first-ever LGBTQ+ representative from a southern state (Texas’s Julie Johnson), and the first LGBTQ Latina in Congress (Washington state’s Emily Randall).
• More than 35,000 gay and lesbian veterans are likely to finally have a chance to clean their records of “dishonorable” or “less than honorable” discharges they received because of their sexuality during the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” era (CBS News). A simple streamlined process will now be provided by the Pentagon. Prior to the settlement, only about 1,375 LGBTQ veterans discharged because of their sexuality had a record correction.
Â
People of color in Congress less visible in Congress, excluded from voter rolls, overlooked when missing
• Fewer members of Congress (116) are people of color this year than last (120), reports AOL. Last year was also a record-setting year for BIPOC representation in Congress.
• An estimated 25 million voters of color nationwide are likely excluded from voter lists often used to engage and educate voters (MSN). Often, those voters have moved and did not receive notices to register anew to vote in their new locations. They are then removed from lists that political campaigns use for mailings and to encourage voter turnout.
• The Gabby Pettito Foundation is named after a white woman, but is devoted to the cause of better publicizing the relatively higher percentage of missing people that are brown or Black. CNN says the foundation, formed by the father of a young white woman whose disappearance and eventual death in 2022 captivated the nation, is working closely with the Black and Missing Foundation. More than one-third of people reported missing are Black, says the FBI — more than twice the percentage of the general population that is Black. In addition, white people account for more than half of missing person reports.
