Queertopia, Austin ECHO to survey trans homelessness in Travis Co.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Queertopia , Travis County’s sole shelter for LGBTQ+ people, will partner with Austin nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) to conduct a paid survey of transgender people’s experiences with homelessness.

Dani Ward, co-founder of Queertopia, said that they want to gather responses from at least 100 people.

“The survey is specifically geared towards trans people that have experienced homelessness, because very often they are completely left out of the the story,” Ward said. “I really would love to see a change in this city and how how people are prioritized and how people are respected.”

Ward said that local officials tell them there are no reports of LGBTQ+ discrimination by housing organizations. ECHO will analyze the survey responses, which Ward hopes will show city and county leaders a better picture of the struggles of transgender people.

“So basically, because organizations haven’t reported that they’ve been discriminatory against a client, the city won’t dedicate funding [for a LGBTQ+ shelter],” Ward said. “It is absurd that we even have to do a survey to get the city to recognize the importance of funding dedicated services.”

The survey will kick off Saturday, at a resource fair for unhoused gender diverse people . That event will be held at Kind Clinic, located at 101 West Koenig Lane, from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. The fair will include legal aid from the Trans Legal Aid Clinic and emotional support sessions with Nemi Therapy .

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