For GLBT victims of domestic violence, housing options most often involve choosing between a rock and a hard place.
"It happens weekly that I have nowhere to refer people," said K.J. Jackson, domestic violence therapist at Horizons Community Services. "The only option now is homeless shelters... . ( Or ) folks ride the train all night or sleep in parks."
Or, with nowhere safe to turn, they return home to live with their abuser.
But a group of service providers and advocates is looking to change that scenario, by providing safe housing for GLBT survivors.
LGBT Shelter Chicago, an organization incorporated last month, was born at the Battering Outside the Heterosexual Framework Conference in Chicago in May 2000.
The group's members met at a panel discussion about services for GLBT survivors, and they have met monthly since then. They are now launching the public efforts necessary to get the housing project off the ground.
"Our main focus is to create a safe house network," Jackson said.
That network would be made up of households willing to take in GLBT survivors for periods ranging from a week to a month, said Karen Rothstein, of the LGBT program at the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
Household volunteers would go through 30 to 35 hours of training on topics such as the nature of domestic violence and how to make their homes OSHA-compliant.
Rothstein emphasized that the providers don't have to be domestic violence counselors and that shelter crisis-intervention volunteers will work with the survivors.
Boston has a similar housing network for lesbian and bisexual women, and Chicago's group is researching how that program is done before their volunteer recruitment efforts begin.
In Chicago, the shelter services would be available to lesbians and bi women, men and transpeople—populations that providers say are woefully underserved.
Jackson said there are 144 beds in Chicago for female domestic violence survivors. Lesbians and bisexual women are eligible for those services, but at the risk of facing homophobia from other clients and staff. There are currently no beds set aside for men or trans people.
In 1999, there were 46 cases of GLBT domestic violence reported to Horizons, a number that tripled to 109 in 2000, according to preliminary estimates. Of that 109, 57 were women, 50 were men and two were male-to-female transgenders, Jackson said, adding that the numbers will undoubtedly increase as Horizons' reporting and outreach methods improve.
Domestic violence occurs as much in GLBT communities as it does in heterosexual communities, meaning about 25% to 33% of all relationships are abusive, Rothstein said.
Transpeople are at particular risk, she said, adding that research indicates that "one in every two transpeople will be the victim of intimate partner violence."
Eventually the organization hopes to grow beyond the safe house network.
"Our vision is to have a shelter up and running in five years," Rothstein said.
The shelter, still in the planning stages, does not currently have funding, and plans to begin fundraising efforts this summer. The group is applying for 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) status and is seeking a fiscal agent. Meetings are currently held at Horizons, 961 W. Montana.
Group members include Jackson, Rothstein, Miranda Stevens Miller of It's Time! Illinois, Nicole Kramer of the Cook County State's Attorney's office, Carl Radford, and representatives from the Chicago Battered Women's Network and Howard Brown Health Center.
For more information, contact K.J. Jackson at Horizons at ( 773 ) 472-6469 or Nicole Kramer, GLBT victim witness for the State's Attorney's office at ( 312 ) 341-2738.
