Georgia State University begins study of LGBT community of the South

by Austin Stallings
Journalism Intern

The LGBT Institute at the Center for Civil and Human Rights and Georgia State University has announced that they will be forming a partnership aimed at connecting academic researchers with LGBT advocates to tell the stories of some of those most marginalized – LGBT Southerners – through data.

“The experiences of LGBT Southerners need to be told. Research is an important way to tell our stories, and that’s where GSU comes in,” said Ryan Roemerman, Executive Director of the LGBT Institute. “Data can amplify LGBT voices and help dismantle systems that promote discrimination.”

Although the South has a high LGBT population, it is still a hot bed of discriminatory laws, such as HB2 in North Carolina and HB 1523 in Mississippi.

“Equality requires policies that reflect and support LGBT people as equal citizens. The problem, especially in the South, is that the research needed to secure these policies is not often funded,” stated Dr. Eric Wright, Chair of the Sociology Department at GSU. “In fact, only two percent of national LGBT funding went to research in the South compared to nine percent nationally. That’s a real opportunity for progress considering more than three in 10 LGBT adults live in the South.”

According to Newswise, Dr. Wright, along with a team of researchers, will examine three priority areas identified by the LGBT Institute’s programming board and supported by stakeholder and groups made up of LGBT community leaders: Education and Employment, Criminal Justice and Safety and Public Health and Wellness.

“By fostering this research, we will gain a more complete understanding of the systemic challenges facing LGBT communities and opportunities to create lived equality among LGBT Southerners,” said Roemerman.

The LGBT Institute projects preliminary findings will be available as early as December 2016.

The Gayly -5/11/2016 @ 12:00 p.m. CDT