Cities across the country will now be able to implement public sleeping bans, which legal advocates say could essentially criminalize homelessness, following the June 28 Supreme Court ruling that such bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment's clause concerning "cruel and unusual punishment."

While Seattle doesn't currently have a public sleeping ordinance in the works (it relies instead on a patchwork of rules against erecting structures in parks, on sidewalks, and so on), King County has already seen the adoption of Burien's contentious Ordinance 832 (formerly known as 827), which makes camping on public property between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. a misdemeanor when shelter space is available. However, the ordinance has not been enforced since November 1, 2023, due to ongoing lawsuits.

While punitive measures like these are now authorized at the federal level and being argued for locally, housing resources organizations continue to be critical avenues of information for unhoused people affected by our region's ongoing housing crisis. For the LGBTQ+ community, knowing who is safe to talk to and who provides culturally competent information and programming is also key to accessing housing resources.

That's why Queer Power Alliance and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness had partnered with 15 other local organizations to facilitate an LGBTQ+ Housing Resources Fair on Saturday, July 27.

Housing justice
The LGBTQ+ Housing Resources Fair, hosted at the downtown Seattle Central Library, aimed to bring vetted, "LGBTQ-competent organizations directly to the community," according to Queer Power Alliance (QPA) Executive Director Taylor Farley. The fair featured housing resources tailored to LGBTQ+ people, who, data shows, faced higher rates of homelessness nationwide than non-LGBTQ+ people.

A 2020 UCLA Williams Institute survey showed that about 17% of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual adults and 30% of Transgender adults have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, compared to just 6% of the non-LGBTQ+ population.

Farley, who played a key role in planning the event, said that invited organizations were asked to bring any resources that would support the LGBTQ+ community in attaining housing justice, which Farley said is the difference between having a temporary place to stay and finding a secure home.

According to Farley, housing justice is multifaceted, especially for LGBTQ+ people. "When you have stabilized housing you have access to hopefully other things. You have [a secure] income, you have healthcare — those are all part of housing," they said.

"Housing justice is when people feel safe, they feel secure, and especially for LGBTQ folks, [when] they are in stabilized housing where they're not afraid that they have to be looking over their shoulder because their neighbor or their landlord has a prejudice against them."

Several organizations at the Housing Resources Fair, such as Peer Washington and Disability Empowerment Center, provide health and wellness services as well as employment resources relating to their housing goals.

Farley said that renters in the LGBTQ+ community, specifically Black and Trans people, face discrimination from landlords at almost all points of the housing process. For example, just after —— or sometimes during —— an in-person viewing, Black and Trans people are often told that the rental is no longer available, even while it continues to be listed and viewed by other parties.

At the end of an LGBTQ+ tenant's lease, dramatic rent increases also contribute to destabilized housing by pushing renters out of the places where they have built a strong neighborhood network, said Farley.

"We build community in our neighborhoods," they said. "That's part of stabilized housing— creating neighborhoods, looking out for each other, and making sure that we are not discriminated against."

Connection and solutions
The Tenant Law Project will provide renter-specific information and Be:Seattle is also set to provide resources related to renter's rights education. On Be:Seattle's website, a tenant resource portal enables renters to find information like complaint histories for particular landlords and buildings.

The Lavender Rights Project, another organization tabling at the event, serves Black gender-diverse people across King County. Its Wellness Nexus — a comprehensive approach for housing justice by Farley's definition — consists of a permanent, 32-unit supportive housing facility that is set to open next year, health and community wellness resources and referrals, partnerships with local government agencies, and regional policy advocacy work. The housing facility — nicknamed "The House" — is a joint project with the Chief Seattle Club and King County Health Through Housing.

Also present will be Entre Hermanos, whose Housing Assistance Program provides rental support targeted for the Latinx population of Washington; and UTOPIA Washington, which is led by and for Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders.

Organizations like these, which offer connection across cultural and intersectional identities, go beyond the basics of health and housing, with the aim of creating lasting solutions at the community level.

According to Farley, the QPA is a small organization that gets its might from the partnerships it maintains. Bringing all these organizations together means that this event was be able to provide direct resources to all the intersections that the LGBTQ+ community exists within, they said. Ideally, it will spur connections and strengthen community as well.

While the consequences of the Supreme Court's ruling have yet to fall on Seattle directly, Farley said the QPA is "committed to uplifting LGBTQ+ needs, including housing" as they currently stand, while also tracking how these needs are currently evolving.

The organization is currently collecting survey data in South King County in partnership with POCAAN and Entre Hermanos to gain a deeper understanding of what housing, economic, transportation, health, and voting accessibility look like for residents, and it continues to host regular housing-related programming for the LGBTQ+ community.

The QPA's next quarterly renter's rights education workshop will be held on August 15, both in person and online.

For more information and social media handles for the Queer Power Alliance, visit https://www.queerpoweralliance.org .