A look at gay people on TV and Gay Pride in downtown, sponsored by big corporations, not facing the kind of harassment that gays have faced in the past, could make it seem like homophobia and discrimination are a thing of the past. However the everyday reality for most lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people looks quite different. Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth, between 20 and 40 percent identify as LGBT. One study showed that 26% of gay teens who came out to their parents/guardians were told they must leave home. People in same-sex relationships are regularly denied benefits like access to a spouse’s health insurance, that are commonly given to married heterosexuals. “Gay bashing” is still a real concern for LGBT people. The FBI reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police in 2004 were based on perceived sexual orientation. 18 states do not even have hate crime laws that include crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation is still legal in the U.S. in many cases. There are federal laws against job discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin and disability. However, they say nothing about discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. While many states do have state laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in some cases gender identity, the majority of states do not. The current Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which is currently being discussed in Congress would represent a real step forward. It would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity on a federal level. However, the legislation has its limitations. For example, it only applies to certain workplaces. And in general, making a law won’t really end inequality. For example, despite laws forbidding job discrimination based on sex or race, African-American workers earn 73 cents for every dollar white workers make, and women in the U.S. earn 77 cents for every dollar men make.

LGBT high school students have one of the worst situations. Not only do the overwhelming majority of schools not deal with LGBT issues – especially in sexual education classes, but LGBT high school students face harassment and threats of violence on a daily basis. A national survey of LGBT students conducted in 2003 found that, within the past year: 77.9% heard remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school; 18.8% heard similar remarks from faculty or school staff at least some of the time; 82.9% reported that faculty or staff never or only sometimes intervened when they were present when such remarks were made. Studies have shown that gay youth are 4 times as likely than their non-gay counterparts to have attempted suicide, and that nearly one-third of LGBT students drop out of high school to escape the violence, harassment, and isolation they face there – a dropout rate nearly three times the national average.

What can we do?
With all these problems, the question is: what can we do to improve the lives of LGBT people? The daily problems faced by most LGBT people – in addition to discrimination, gay bashing, and a higher homelessness rate, are also the same problems faced by most heterosexuals, like low wages, no health insurance, a lack of affordable decent housing, underfunded schools and for those who graduate high school and want to go to college, unaffordable tuition.

An LGBT movement that organized people locally and nationally to campaign on concrete issues affecting the daily lives of LGBT people, such as getting schools to set up programs and policies to deal with homophobic bullying, getting cities to set up and fund gay-friendly youth centers, getting cities to set up more gay-friendly homeless shelters, and worked on campaigns against low wages, for single-payer healthcare, better funding for schools and other social programs would be able to link up with unions, community groups and other progressive movements, making these campaigns much stronger. An LGBT movement like this could offer real improvements in the lives of working class LGBT people (and working class heterosexuals).

History shows that whenever major gains were won in the struggle against oppression, they were won on the basis of mass movements, like the civil rights movement, women’s rights, or early gains won by the LGBT movement decades ago. Major gains like this are not won by focusing on getting certain people elected, then hoping they keep their campaign promises. In order to win serious improvements in our lives, we need to rebuild the radical traditions of the past.

However a movement like that would face powerful opposition. Big business would not want to pay (either directly through higher wages and better benefits, or indirectly through taxes) for an increase in our living standard. Aside from throwing us a few crumbs now and again, the bought-off politicians of both parties consistently side with big businesses against working people, for example on questions like single-payer healthcare.

But in the end, we live in a society where the vast wealth of a tiny minority stands in contrast with the living standards of the vast majority. This system survives by pitting one oppressed group against another, be it through racism, sexism or homophobia. In order to make it possible to live in a society in which discrimination and oppression are things of the past, we need to get rid of capitalism. The LGBT movement needs to link up with the struggle for socialism.