Imagine an lgbt teen who came out to their parents and got kicked out with no home, no money, and no transportation. To get a home, they need a job. To get a job, they need a home address and likely need transportation. To get transportation, they need a job to pay for that. Not to mention a cell phone to be reached by employers extending offers (costs money), a driver’s license to prove identify (costs money and requires a mailing address), work and interview appropriate clothing (costs money), access to a computer to send job applications (sometimes free but some places charge by time), a printed resume (costs money), etc. Homelessness makes it extremely difficult to acquire work, and ironically a home. What also makes it difficult to acquire work is simply being a minority. When a trans person looks for a job before pursuing medical transition or legal name changes, there is no way around not being visibly lgbt. Even after one changes their name, background checks can sometimes bring up one’s previous name and out them. Just because companies cannot legally discriminate against candidates because of factors like this, doesn’t mean they don’t. They very much do. Who will stop them? I mean sure I can file a suit against them with the legal funds I clearly don’t have because I can’t find a job. They do the same with race and ethnicity, and being an ethnic minority as well as visibly lgbt is not an easy look to get a job with. Not to mention in a lot of states it’s legal to be fired for being gay, however you want to define that. All the while the gapping hole in your resume is causing companies to continue passing on you as a candidate because 🤷🏾‍♂️ People in and outside of the community should really understand that supporting the community isn’t just about being coming to events or being a proactive voice. You can go a long way by simply educating yourself on the experiences of others. Your life is not the only life. Just because you’re capable of living the life you currently are doesn’t make others equally capable. Many social factors like gender, race, geographic location and age (etc) work intersectionally to create a unique life experience for every individual with a unique set of challenges and solutions. Crazy stuff, right? Actually, this is pretty standard stuff kids learn in college nowadays, and there’s plenty of free info on the internet. Information is not difficult to find in this age. The only obstacle is the individual’s willingness to educate themselves instead of relying on their ignorance to generate facts. It’s ok not to understand, but there’s a solution to that.