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LGBTQ+ young adults experience higher rates of food insecurity than their non-LGBTQ+ peers

Phoenix Pride 2018
Jackie Hai/KJZZ
Phoenix Pride, 2018.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community, like those who are transgender or gender-expansive, experience higher rates of food insecurity than their peers. Food insecurity is especially prevalent among younger individuals.

According to the Williams Institute, more than 700,000 LGBTQ+ 18- to 24-year-olds do not have enough to eat.

Jessyca Leach is the executive director of the Southwest Center for HIV and AIDS.

"We see a lot of food insecurity in our youth, especially that 18 to 24 age, because it's difficult if your family doesn't accept you trying to make it on your own with housing and then add in food," said Leach .

Leach says even accessing food at a supermarket can be traumatic.

"There is so much stigma that comes into play if you go into a public space, and you identify and present as something outside the cisgender norm, that it can become difficult for our community to just want to go shop."

LGBTQ+ high school students also struggle with access to food.

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.
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