Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Final Report

The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey was conducted in January through March, 2011.  Its key findings on the violence, intimidation, and discrimination experienced in the Municipality of Anchorage by its 268 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender  respondents were previously reported in the preliminary report published in November 2011.

In addition to those key finding, also reproduced as part of the final report’s executive summary, this final report includes:

• Detailed tables upon which the charts included in the preliminary report were based.
• A complete methodology including detailed discussion of sampling selection. Probability (random) sampling of LGBT populations is difficult and prohibitively expensive due to several challenges, which are explained.  This survey used nonprobability sampling, which is the most common type used for LGBT populations.
• Complete demographic data for the survey population with, in some cases, comparison with 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey for total population of the Municipality of Anchorage.
• Expanded discussion of major findings from the prior Alaska studies One in Ten and Identity Reports; comparisons with those national LGBT studies of anti-LGBT discrimination which are based on probability sampling; and comparison with an extensive national nonprobability transgender discrimination study (over 6000 respondents) covering all 50 states, Washington, DC, and several U.S. territories.  Though the present survey is based on nonprobability sampling, its results are similar in many respects to national data, and also demonstrates that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination are as common Alaska and Anchorage as in the rest of the United States.
• Comparisons with recent data on experience of racism in Anchorage from the Anchorage Community Survey 2009.  Experiences of racism are common in Anchorage, especially among blacks, Alaska Natives/American Indians, and Pacific Islanders.  Sexual orientation/gender identity bias and discrimination is experienced by LGBT people at comparable levels.
• An examination of case processing data for actual discrimination complaints filed with Anchorage Equal Rights Commission (2002–2009) and Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (2006–2010).
• Findings from national studies conducted by The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law on the rates of employment discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation/gender identity as compared with complaints for sex discrimination and race/color discrimination in states where sexual orientation and/or gender identity discrimination are prohibited.  Typically for those states, complaints to state human rights agencies of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity are made at only a slightly lower rate per 10,000 LGBT employees as are complaints of sex discrimination per 10,000 female workers; complaints of discrimination on the basis of race/color tend to be higher than either sexual orientation/gender identity or sex discrimination.
• Respondent comments (edited for respondent confidentiality).

[Download the final report]

Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Final Report by Melissa S. Green is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.identityinc.org/.

The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey was conducted in the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, from January through March 2011, with 268 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) respondents included in the final dataset. The preliminary report presents key findings from the survey on the incidence of violence, intimidation, and discrimination in employment, housing, education, child custody proceedings, and public services experienced by respondents in the Municipality of Anchorage because of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. Summary data is presented for the total study population of 268 respondents, as well as for the 50 respondents who had been resident in the Municipality of Anchorage for less than five years.

Results show that discrimination, harassment, and bias are experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual residents of the Municipality of Anchorage at levels comparable to those experienced by respondents to One in Ten, a statewide survey of lesbian, gay, and bisexual Alaskans conducted in 1985 (published in 1986), and that that discrimination, harassment, and bias are also commonly experienced by transgender residents of the Municipality of Anchorage.  The 50 respondents who had lived in Anchorage less than five years reported experiencing discrimination/bias in Anchorage at only slightly lower rates than the survey population as a whole, despite of a much shorter span of time in Anchorage within which to accumulate experiences of discrimination.

More comprehensive information from the study, including methodology, complete demographic data on survey respondents, detailed analysis of the findings, and comments from survey respondents will be included in the final report (forthcoming in December 2011).

[Download the preliminary report]

Click through for larger version. Additional figures and tables are found in the report.

The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey came about as a result of a perceived need for quantifiable data on the incidence of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the Municipality of Anchorage. It represents the first effort since the late 1980s to compile rigorous data about the incidence of sexual orientation bias and discrimination in Anchorage — and the first effort ever to document Anchorage or Alaska-specific data about discrimination and bias on the basis of gender identity and expression.

The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey is a collaborative project of the Alaska LGBT community and a coalition of Alaska organizations which serve the LGBT community, including Identity, Inc., the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s), Alaskans Together for Equality (ATE), Equality Works, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska. The survey questionnaire and overall research project were designed by members of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force in consultation with Dr. Brad A. Myrstol and Khristy Parker of the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage. Shelby Carpenter, LGBT Public Policy Coordinator with the ACLU of Alaska during the first half of work on the survey, was project manager for survey distribution and data collection, assisted by Drew Phoenix. Dr. Myrstol conducted statistical analysis on the final dataset. The principal investigator for the study is Melissa S. Green, who prepared this report and is also writing the final report. Questions about the survey can be directed to her at alaskacommunity@gmail.com.

Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Preliminary Report by Melissa S. Green is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.identityinc.org/.

Press release

Here is the text of the media advisory released this morning by Identity.

For Immediate Release

Identity
Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director
907-929-4528

Report shows discrimination against lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Alaskans.

Anchorage, AK, Nov. 10, 2011 — The nonprofit group Identity released today preliminary results of a study conducted this year about discrimination in Anchorage’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey’s initial results indicate members of the LGBT community in Anchorage continue to experience significant levels of discrimination in areas of employment, housing, education, public services and child custody as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity or presentation. They also experience high levels of verbal harassment and physical violence.

“Unfortunately, we know discrimination within the LGBT community continues to be a problem in Anchorage as it does in other communities across the country,” stated Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director of Identity. “The survey will help us quantify the problems we face so we can work to eliminate discrimination in our community as a whole.”

In the area of employment, 44 percent of respondents reported being harassed by employers or other employees; nearly 21 percent believed they were turned down for a job when otherwise qualified; almost 18 percent were denied a promotion and close to 15 percent said they were fired by their employer based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In housing, over 18 percent of respondents reported being harassed by a landlord or other tenants, and more than 10 percent said they were denied a housing lease, even though they were otherwise qualified, because they were LGBT.

The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey also shows that roughly three out of four survey respondents experienced verbal abuse, and nearly 43 percent were subjected to threats of physical violence. Further, almost 13 percent experienced property damage because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Melissa S. Green was the principal investigator for the project and authored the preliminary report released today. Green was also part of two similar research efforts in the 1980s conducted by Identity to document sexual orientation bias and discrimination in Alaska. The new study added transgender Alaskans to the survey and was conducted between January and March of this year, and involved paper and online surveys collected from 268 respondents in Anchorage who identified themselves as being LGBT. The project was designed by members of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force in consultation with Dr. Brad A. Myrstol and Khristy Parker of the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage. Dr. Myrstol also assisted with statistical analysis.

Identity is an Anchorage-based, nonprofit organization founded in 1977, and provides programs supporting equality for the LGBT community and its allies. The complete report from the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey will be released in December 2011.

Identity
Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director
907-929-4528

A copy of the complete preliminary report is available online at www.identityinc.org or alaskacommunity.org.

# # #

In the meantime, we’d like to thank all those who worked on research design, survey distribution, and outreach over the last few months.  We’d also like to thank all of those who took time to complete the survey: we could not have done this without you.

Thank you!

* * *

Meeting on Monday, February 29, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force decided to extend data collection for the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey through March 31, 2011, in order to give more people the opportunity to respond. This survey is collecting information on experiences of bias and discrimination in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Anchorage, Alaska.

If you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans person who lives, works, or spends time in Anchorage — or if you have lived/worked/spent time in Anchorage in the past — please take 10 minutes to complete the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey today.  We need your help whether or not you have personally experienced discrimination.

It takes about 10 minutes to complete the survey. All survey responses are completely confidential, and survey administration has been designed to ensure the privacy of all respondents.

To make sure that there is only one person per survey, and to ensure that only members of the LGBT community participate, a valid PIN number is required for your survey to be counted. But it’s simple. Just:

1. Contact the Project Manager, Shelby Carpenter, at scarpenter@akclu.org or at 907.263.2006 to get a PIN.
2. Come to this site to complete the survey.
3. Paper surveys are also available upon request.

Thank you for your help with this important study!

[Survey data collection completed; survey removed 1 Apr 2011]

Your answers are completely confidential, and survey administration has been designed to ensure the privacy of all respondents. While the survey website may contain cookies, your survey responses cannot be tied to your IP address.

All members of the LGBT community are encouraged to participate. Respondents will need an individual PIN number to access the survey. To obtain a PIN, or a print version of the survey, contact Shelby Carpenter of the ACLU of Alaska at (907) 263-2006 or at scarpenter@akclu.org.

[See post above for survey.]

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, January 6th, the survey will be available online right here on our homepage.

Shelby Carpenter, Project Manager for the Anchorage Discrimination Survey

The Task Force will complete two important surveys over the coming years. Our broader, more long-term project is the Alaska LGBT Community Statewide Survey, which will provide an extensive profile of the LGBT community all across the state. Over the next six months, however, our focus is the Anchorage Discrimination Survey, which will focus exclusively on experiences of bias and discrimination by LGBT people in Anchorage. Please look for the survey in early 2011! We need as many respondents as possible, and all answers will be completely confidential. You can find more information about the survey at alaskacommunity.org.

I will be serving as Project Manager for the survey, so please also feel free to reach out to me by phone at (907) 263-2006 or by email at scarpenter@akclu.org about any questions you may have.

The Alaska Commission on Aging is conducting a survey of Alaskans age 50 and older in development of the next state plan for senior services, which will cover 2012–2015. The anonymous survey includes questions about overall concerns, including financial security and health care. The survey also asks about satisfaction with senior services.

Older Alaskans may complete the survey online by visiting the Alaska Commission on Aging’s website, and clicking on the survey link at the top of the home page. Those without access to a computer may find paper copies of the survey at their senior center, meal program, or other senior services program. Responses will help the Commission to plan services for seniors and to advocate for programs, policies, and laws that benefit seniors.

There are no questions on the survey related to specifically LGBT concerns, but there is a comment area if there are specific concerns (whether LGBT or anything else) that you face as an older Alaskan.

The survey is open until October 15.

h/t Grrlzlist

Transgender Focus Groups. Click through for a copy of the flyer.

Identity did two big research projects in the 1980s called One in Ten (1986) and Identity Reports (1989). The first was a statewide survey of the Alaska LGB population, & the second was more specifically focused on sexual orientation discrimination bias/discrimination in Alaska. Both were important studies — but notice the omission of “T’ in the first, or “gender identity discrimination/bias” in the second.

We want the Alaska LGBT Statewide Community Survey and the Anchorage Discrimination Survey to be fully trans-inclusive. But to make that happen, we need to involve transfolk fully not only in taking the survey, but also in research design, administration, & data analysis.

That’s what these two focus groups are for: an early step (but it won’t be our last one!) in making sure that transfolk are fully represented in every aspect of the surveys from beginning to end. We also welcome significant others and trans allies to one or both workshops.

Here’s the info:

“Trans Component to the AK LGBT Survey” Workshop

Alaska Pride Conference
Saturday, October 9, 2010, 2:15–3:30 PM
Alaska Pacific University, Carr Gottstein Building, Room 204
See a map of the APU campus.

Trans Focus Group #2

Wednesday, October 13, 7:00–8:00 PM
Identity, Inc. Conference Room
Gay & Lesbian Resource Center
336 E. 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK

Hope to see you!

For those of you who were not able to make it, we have settled on completing two surveys: one smaller survey focused on bias and discrimination in the LGBT community in Anchorage — the Anchorage Discrimination Survey, to be completed in the next year — and a far more expansive Alaska LGBT Community Statewide Survey of the LGBT community to occur over a longer timeline.  There is going to be plenty of room for different levels of involvement moving forward, and I am really excited to work both with full-blown members of the Task Force and individuals who will be joining us on a consulting basis.

We were fortunate to have Brad Myrstol and Khristy Parker of UAA Justice Center join us last night and ask some hard questions about what the project needs to look like — and what our priorities should be — moving forward.  It has become clear that in order to have usable data by the spring of 2011, work on the Anchorage Discrimination Survey simply cannot begin soon enough.  Therefore we will continue having Task Force meetings on roughly a monthly basis while also having a research and methodology team start on the survey within the next week.  Anyone who is interested in participating in the survey design and outreach to respondents is encouraged to attend the meeting.

The Anchorage Discrimination Survey Research and Methodology team will meet:

Monday, October 4
6:00-7:30 PM
1057 West Fireweed Lane
First floor conference room

The wider Task Force will meet again later in October, details to follow.

Again, thank you all for your support and involvement in this project.  Your work on this really will make a difference!

More details on discussion at last night’s meeting will follow in the next couple of days.