Abstract
Purpose:
As growing numbers of people are deprived of housing and forced to live in precarious conditions, housing has become a public health priority. However, researchers and policymakers have given less attention to the experience of housing instability among people living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. In collaboration with the Coalition on Homelessness, this study used a critical intersectional lens and participatory action research approach to analyze interviews conducted among transgender Latinas (translatinas) experiencing housing instability in San Francisco, California.
Methods:
We performed secondary qualitative analysis of 34 interviews conducted among translatinas as part of a community-based needs assessment that took place beginning in the fall of 2019. Researchers conducted inductive thematic analysis and discussed preliminary codes and findings with community partners at multiple points throughout the analytic process.
Results:
We report findings along three thematic groups: (1) experiencing housing instability through the intersections of identity and position; (2) navigating the close relationship between housing and health, and (3) visions for housing stability and greater social support for translatinas. Translatinas experience unique patterns of discrimination related to Latinidad, transness, status as unauthorized migrants, and tensions between community visibility and invisibility. Improvement recommendations focused on translatina-specific funding and programs, increasing trans leadership in housing and social service organizations, and increasing language and legal support for trans migrants.
Conclusion:
Housing instability among translatinas is experienced through multiple, intersecting axes of oppression. Participants recommended an intersectional approach to housing and social services that attends to the complexity of their multiple identities.
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