civil rights advocates and financial experts testify on barriers facing lgbtq individuals in the financial services industry from a house financial services subcommittee, this is about an hour 15 minutes. >> this hearing entitled there is no pride in prejudice, eliminating barriers to full economic inclusion for the lgbtq plus community. i now recognize myself for four minutes to give an opening statement. good afternoon.n. and i n am pleased to convene t subcommittee on diversity and

inclusion fors hybrid hearing entitled there is no pride in prejudice, eliminating barriers to full economic inclusion for lgbtq plus community. in 27 states, there are no explicit state-wide laws protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in ngemployment, housi, and public accommodations. at the federal level, there are no fair housing or credit protections based on expressley sexual orientation or gender identity. this puts many lgbtq plus individuals at risk. youth at risk, or experiencing chronicor homelessnes unemployment or being unbanked. we are a nation of many colors. a rainbow, if you will, and today we will explore the lgbtq

community and whatym it faces, systemic barriers to financial inclusion and employment simply because of whoa we are. just theen other day, i was at metro high school where young students in a s.t.e.m. program had one of their categories as lgbtq plus. because they understood the value of diversity. what aex great preview for toda. in b having me to have this hearing and to have so many experts. today, we know it has been documented byif a recent gallup poll of 2021 that 18 million adults are self-identified as lgbtqy individuals. these are our family members, our colleagues, our friends. andng every day, these individus

face bigotry, discrimination, especially when it comes to securing safe and stable housing. iou joined with my colleagues t pass ,hr-5, the equality act, that would prohibit discrimination basedlu on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in any area. specifically including unemployment and housing. this bill is currently pending in the senate, but the founding principles in our community are clear. all men and women are created equal. and with inalienable rights that one doesdu not forfeit due to their sexual orientation or identity.is yesterday, there was also a young individual there who had written an article on racism and

diversity, and he stood so proudly as he escorted adults to talk about the value of that. this young man you'll hear more about as i talk to our expert witnesses, and i will give you a quote then by him, as we talk to our witnesses. but let me just say, we have a lotot to learn about this agend and i certainly look forward to the testimony of our witnesses who will not only enumerate the depth of the challenges but will also share comprehensive solutions to help our country live up to its values. now, i yield backhe the rest ofy time and it is my honor as the chair to recognize the ranking member for four minutes for an opening statement, my friend and my colleague, congresswoman ann

wagner. >> i thank you, madam chairwoman, and i want to thank all of our witnesses for joining us today, as we examine policies that promote economic success americans. federall protections against discrimination, the benefits of a diverse workforce and the ways in which corporate culture shifts that include a more inclusive environment are proving effectiveve throughout r private sector, including the financial services sector. research shows that companies with more diverse workforces outperform their less diverse competitors. specifically, companies that implement inclusive workplace practices saw an average of 6.5% increase in stock performance compared to industry peers. additionally, inclusive companies are able to better attract talented candidates and retain their workforce.

a im2017 study by deloitte foun that 80% of respondents said that muworkplace inclusion was important factor when choosing an weemployer. and the business community has taken notice. in thisve subcommittee, we have discussed ways that a business improve retention and develop a more inclusive workplace. those bestin practices includin transparency regarding salaries andor promotion opportunities, mentoring and sponsorship programs, toemployee resource groups, and flexible work hours for working mothers and families to name just a few. i believe that every american shouldse have equal access to economic opportunities and ild look forward to hearing from today's c wednesdays. i would now like to take this opportunity too yield one minut to myy friend and colleague fro

north carolina, the ranking member of the financial services committee, mr. patrick mchenry. >> well, thank you, ranking member wagner. certainlyss appreciate your leadership on these very important issues, and how we more importantly drive inclusion acrossev our economy. you know, the promise of the american dream is that if you work hard, you play by the rules, you can achieve success. unfortunately, we know that's not --- that dream is not a reality for everyone. and where we find barriers to economic inclusion, we must knock them down. where we find discrimination, we must eliminate it. every american deserves access toss the opportunities, tools, d services that can make the american dreamin a reality. i wantt to thank our witnesses for being here, and i thank the ranking member for yields. i want to thank the chair for holding the hearing, and i yield back. >> i thank you.e i thank the ranking member, and i yield back the balance of my time to the chairwoman. thank you. >> thank you so much.

it now gives me the great honor to recognize the chairwoman of the full committee for one minute, the honorable congresswoman maxine waters. >> thank you so very much for holding this important hearing, chair beatty. the fact that lgbtq plus rights is far from over. while same-sex marriage and other milestones of lgbtq plus equality have become a reality within the last ten years, this community stillal faces discriminatory barriers and financial burdens. for example, data show that individuals within the lgbtq community often have more trouble finding affordable and safe and equitable housing across america, an estimated 20% to 40% of homeless youth identify --

and being positively included in workplace environments. compared to other heterosexual andheterosexual and cis-gendered counter parts, i'm proud that this community is ensuring these kinds of disparate impacts are not tolerated. thank you, again, and i yield the balance of my time. >> thank you to our chairwoman. today, we welcome the testimony of ourur distinguished witnesse first we have mr. david johns, thee executive director of the national black justice coalition. next, we have spencer watson, the executive director of the center for lgbtq economic

advancement and yresearch, and then we have ms.s. tonya johnso walker the cofounder of new york transgender advocacy group and transgender facilitator, next mr. tod sears, principle and founder of out leadershipp llc, oral testimony limited to five minutes. you should be able to see the timer on your screen that will indicate how much time you have left. when you have one minute remaining, a yellow light will appear. i would ask that you be mindful of the timer and when the red light appears, to quicklyti wra up your testimony so we can be respectful ofmr both the other witnesses and the committee member's time. without objection, your written

statement will bee made part of the record. mr. johns, you are now recognized for five minutes to give an oral presentation on your testimony. >> thank you, chair baty, ranking members of the subcommittee for the opportunity. my name is david johns, hundredored to serve as director of the director of the national black b justice coalition, servg people, family and communities, if there's one things i want the subcommittee to hear me say it's that while the diverse black community is burdened by racism, people with black intersectionalities are often confronted with challenges nuanced andns ignored. my testimony highlights three things, first, students assumed to beha lgbtq+ lack the protectn afforded to their peers and the

challengessu faced in schools me it difficult for them to be happy, oohealthy, successful lar in life. my oral dissertation, supporting development of black lgbtq+ students in the u.s. calls for increased investments and o school-based supports for lgbtq+ youth and data sets that acknowledge many of us have intersectional identities that shape how we face organizations like schools in many ways. i turn to a latin trans-youth student calling it treacherous, a sight of blood, painting her face and the floor, she was faced with abuse in the community, many teachers and students cannot demonstrate what they have learned if they don't feel safe. we have learned that black lgbtq+in students find schools

be hostile, unwelcoming spaces, often resulting in them failing to develop the skills and relationships needed to be successful later in life. second, as you know what happens in schools has a profound impact on life opportunities and outcomes, especially black lgbtq+ youth often forced to begin their adult hood early, these people are underes represented and black lgbtq+ youth greatly under represented, those facing housing instabltd d less likely to finish school and find a good job, being described denied interviews, laid off, denied promotion opportunities and when discrimination occurs only due to race, gender, sexual

orientation and identity thanks to a recent u.s. supreme court decision, filing an ooec claim isra an option, however when on forms discrimination based on race and sexual discrimination the remedy to harm is more complicated than plausible at all. it isty imperative we close it' legal loophole due to people in marginalized identitiesan and i thank you who f voted for the equality act, equality act is also afforded with how home ownership and housing stability support+ economic stability in the u.s. more than half the states indi r country lack laws banning housing discrimination against lgbtq+xe americans, we often fa discriminationr working with rl estate agents, requesting loans for m housing and seeking shelt,

new york experienced housing discrimination moving from florida to maryland, after meeting with a realtor in maryland, assured they had the and a how's was affordable, only when they referenced they were spouses, not simply friends split on the rentng that the realtor split a communicationte with the couple. afterwards, the wife, a homelessness prevention social worker decided to purchase a home and in the church faced different rates from banks,.5 to.25 is a significant difference over the years, this did not change over the process of them processing the applications. to be clear, the equality act would provide a remedy for

couples seeking housing security and stability, and while protectionsn. based on race exi, fed rm law does not explicitly protect same sex loving couples from i housing discrimination. stress causedle by housing, foo employment instability and security, increases the likelihood of significant physical, mental and emotional t challenges, and collectively actions he sequence of cripplert communities for + generations, leveling the playing field to ensure every american has opportunity essential for ourr democracy, ad same sexex loving people, communities, and families who u disproportionately struggle to no fault of our own, i hope this emphasizes the need to -- >> thank you, gentlemen's time is up. thank you mr.ra johns.

ms. watson you are now rec fl fliesed, recognized five minutes for oral testimony. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify at today's hearing. my name is spencer watson and i am the founder and president ant executive director of the center for lgbtq advancement and research. i'll bee sharing testimony of some of the most current knowledge about financialse well-being and economic opportunities for lgbtq people and the current state of the lgbtq people, a wealth gap as opposed to cis gendered peers, reporting smaller incomes and more likely to live in poverty than nonlgbtq people are. 1 inor 5 lgbtq adults in the u.

in 20188 reported less than $25,000q a year, and one in 20 reported less l than $5,000 a year, 2.5 times more than nonlgbtqns adults, transgendere more likely to make less than $10,000 are year. more likely to make use of government benefits and financial support than nonlgbtq people, lgbtq more likely to make use of the supplemental assistance program or snap than nonlgbtq adults. lgbtq more likely to be under employed than nonlgbtq people are. in 2019, lgbtq adults more likely to report unemployed and looking for work than nonlgbtq adults and 1/3 said they wanted

to work more w than the previou month.. one in 10 lgbtq adults aged 18 to 29 years old were unemployed and looking for n work, much mo than nonlgbtq peers. also less likely to have adequate insurance coverage than nonlgbtq people. one in 10 did not have health insuranceve in 2019, 1.5 times more often than nonlgbtq and 1 in six black and hispanic lgbtq adults did not have health insurancemi coverage. alsoit less likely to offer pla that cover lgbtq people's unique needs, such as in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, and the lackt of coverage causes my to foree go healthcare and pay more out of pocket for the

healthcare they doas receive. one inin five lgbtq adults witht insurance paying out of pocket paid more than $5,000. although home ownership is typically regarded as a principle way for households to build financial health and security tion lgbtq people are less likely to build that ownership, less h than half of lgbtqq adults owned their home n 2019 as compared to around 2/3 of non-lgbtq adults and those who a do own the homes more liky to be paying mortgage than owning inar full. lgbtq renters more likely, they did not think they would qualify for mortgage. in 2019, only 43% of lgbtq owned their home and less than 1/3 of black lgbtq adults owned their

home. lgbtq households also more likely to be under banked.ba in 2019, lgbtq households more likely to be under banked and one in five households were under banked in 2019. nontraditional access to financialed services makes this mean more likely to use alternative financial services, lenders, pawn shops, in 2018, one in five used more alternative services than the previous year. lgbtq people are also more likely to apply for credit, but thate they are also more likely when they do apply to have their applications for credit rejected. overer 1/3 of lgbtq people who in 2019 had redit their applications rejected and also 1.25 times less likely to

be offered credit than they wanted. transgender nonconforming people also more likely to experience difficulties with their creditt reports when they change their names and so i want to highlight the fact that the lgbtq community is not a monolithe and lgbtq people come from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. >> nick, your time expired, thank you for your testimony. ms. walker you are now recognized for five minutes to give an oral presentation on your testimony. we need you to unmute. you're muted.ar >> okay, thank you. hello members of the committee and thank you fore holding thi hearingco on an issue that i

believe impacts the entire lgbty community or lesbian, guy, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community, and especially affects those who are transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary or tgncnb. i am a proud black transgender woman. i amas a combat engineer army veteran and my path has not been an easy one. despite suffering harassment and abuse verbally, physically, and sexually, in the army i received honorable discharge in 1984. i went on to study social work at the college of statin island where i was constantly misgendered by professors and

eventually ran off the campus for protesting for a out lesbian judge, judge karen berstein in 1984 against her remarks, against remarks by the president that, you know, she was an out lesbian and wasn't fit to serve as attorney general of new york state so therefore i was forced to leave college and wasn't able to finish my education. so i was forced to leave school abruptly. i was leader of the lesbian guy group at csi, i protested for the judge and was then called all kinds of names, couple of car loads of students ran up to me and called me all kinds of guy a epitaphs so wasn't able t complete myid education as a social worker. in 1988, severely injured in a

car accident, serving as a me to come to identity as a woman and decided life is too short for me to live unauthentically. i triedt, to find medical care assist with my transition, but was turned away, laughed at and at times, declared mentally ill. one of my doctors called me schizophrenic and prescribed me pills for a condition i didn't have. from 1990 through 2010 it was virtually impossible to find doctors or other medical providers who did not overtly reject or minimize my issues. they even ridiculed and mocked me for my gender identity. i've been laughed at, misgendered, dead-named, dead-named which is calling me byby the name given to me at a th, so that was often problem in my life.

this impacted my life greatly, not only with healthcare, but with my ability to find work ann safe housing. many of my friends and i were unable to find employment because people r would not hire transgender folks. despite being a combat engineers veteran, i was forced to rely on food pantries and kitchens throughout my adult life. i had a lot of problems findinga hormones, and had to resort to the streets to find them. today, i'm here to advocate for adequate housing for trans-folks who are often misgendered and not age to live authentically, and not self-actualized in society as in abraham's hierarchy of needs. i'm here to advocate for the

equality act, and full inclusion of transgender folks into this arena. health andmy finances also impa one's ability to find affordable safe housing. i, myself, have been turned away several times and discriminated against when seeking housing. i've heard horror stories from my friends, both through my work, but also through tgnc folks all around new york state. transgender women either get physically and verbally abused, when in female shelters, being toldld they are men and do not belong, or they get physically assaulted, verbally assaulted or sexually assaulted. i am here to help get safer

spaces created for tgnc people, demanding there be cultural sensitivity trainings for all staff, even folks doing business with the shelters. >> i'm sorry, ms. watson, walker, your time has expired. ms. watson and thank you for your testimony. i'm sorry, ms. walker. your testimony, thanks for your testimony. now mr. sears, you are now recognized for five minutes to give oral presentation on your testimony. >> thank you very much, chair woman beatty, ranking member high waters, mchenry and distinguished members of the subcommittee i want to thank you for holding this important hearing today. i sit in front of you today as a proud openly guy american, bank investment operator, founding

ceo of, of corporation and company in the united states who's sole product is equality, employ over 7 million americans in every state in this country. distinguished members of the committee, my work with over hundreds of d businesses has shown me lgbtq equality and inclusion should not be political, it's neither republican nor democratic issue. it's a business issue and impacts every american guy or straight and reaches every corner of the economy of our great. nation. since 2008, stock prices of lgbtq friendly companies outs, perform theirir peers, have higr income for t employees, more patents, more trademarks, copy rights, as well as more engagement and retention than their noninclusive counter part companies. as far as protections for lgbtq

people thees positive benefits inclusion are not felt in the unitedut states. recent out reach research revealed nearly 1/3 of lgbtq people will take a pay cut to move from a state to a state with more favorable treatment of lgbtq workers. efforts have to be inclusive, time and time again, state and federal bills are introduced to promote diversity, that completely exclude the lgbtq community, lgbtq people are still not a federally protected calgory as mentioned today and that's something most americans actually don't know. importantly as my fellow witnesses today, racial justice and gender equality mubs be a core part of the fight for gender equality. lgbtq households in america hold

multiple identities. post pandemic data shows lgbtq households report economic outcomes two times worse than cis peers including food insecurity, avunemployment, eviction, difficulty for paying expenses, with those of color suffering the greatest impact. this year, championing three bills at the federal level, hr 43 on lgbtqk access to credit d of course the equality act passing the house of representatives this year and want to thank the work of this committee on this important bill. but on behalf of the members of the leadership and entire business community we advocate specifically for the following, first and foremost the passage of the equality act, without it, lgbtq people continue to be subject to discrimination and the chipping away of federal protections asme we saw last we from a federal judge around title 9. the expansionve

of diversity definitions for board adversity and disclosure mandates, intersectional for allgb regulad entity and see businesses in the u.s. currently just 19 of the fortune 500 who include lgbtq leaders in the definition of board diversity and that's in just 29 half board members of the fortune 500. next, data collection on the lgbtq community and all data collection surveys as we haveri just seen with the u.s. census. if well count, we matter.ur a commitment to the freedom of religious which does not include a religious right to discriminate and finally the economic security and financial stability of lgbtq people by fostering inclusive labor practices and workplace policy that is include access to credit and capital. lgbtq inclusive diversity is simply goodry for business. 25 years of research shows us companies with lgbtq inclusive

policies out perform peers on every measure ofar success, fro engagement, degrees turnover, engagement to stocky price. must invest in activities that are in economic best interest and lgbtq inclusive diversity fits that bill. there are clear economic consequences too discrimination as well which is why 92% of the fortunedo 500 already protect lgbtq employees and thousands of companies invested in equality, diversity and inclusion but companies can only do so much, challenge that is remain must be addressed by the federal government and this very committee, the patch work of state laws across 29 states where lgbtq are not protected stands in the way of progress. i ask to take this work and we support you in it. thank you for the time today and look forward to your questions. >> thank you so much, mr. sears and to all of the expert witnesses today. i cannot tell you how s.

informative, how needed, and how impressive you were in providing information to us and with that said ihe now recognize myself f five minutes for questions. we've heard a lot about the exclusion, and the impact as it relates to employment, as it relates too housing, as it relae to see finances and a whole host of things. earlier in my opening statement, io talked about being at the metro school. there was a young black man that cameto up to me who i had mentod and he shared his experiences overur the last few years, and want to say to delaviance bert sams, thank you for your work, and thank you for your paper, in writing about how we are still dealing with racism and how we are still evaluating efficacy of

initiatives and letet me share with everyone, this quote. he said, for example, financial support of the initiatives are not always present in the amount that'sr needed. we heard that from you. one of the most frequently reported suggestions for better efficacy and equity is better and more commitment to financial support of the initiatives over a long period of time. we need to give more support to our topic today in hopefully, this is just opening m the door. with that, let me ask nicks watson, there are individuals ig the lgbtq community plus that feel alienated from accessing traditional financial services due to implicit and explicit biases from bank employees.

could you recommend some suggestions or practices that financial institutions can employ or create to be more inclusive? >> so the, yeah, as you mentioned, lgbtq people and particularly gender nonconforming people do experience harassing and insensitive treatment frequently fromth customer service representatives and financial professionals when seeking financial services and in order to address that, i do think that it would behoove many financial professionals too engage in, yo know, cultural competency to increase rder their understanding and awareness of lgbtq people's identities and how to provide sensitive and affirming services for them. >> okay. thank you. only because the clock is

ticking. ms. johnson, at a federal level, there are no fair housing or credit protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity. can you share with us if you've had any d experiences with lgbt plus individuals being denied housing due to the absence of thesee protections? is ms. johnson still with us? >> you're talking ms. walker? >> i'm sorry, ms. walker. >> it's okay. > i am so sorry. >> yes. many trans people are denied because their name might not match their documents. and can be refused housing for that. and most staff are not, do not

have cultural sensitivity training and are not prepared to meet with a transgender person. i mean some of the ignorance against transgender people is willfulth ignorance and they misgender transpeople which i would consider as hate speech, however with more on going culturaldl sensitivity training to handle tgnc and be customers, i think would be appropriate. also, to change the documentation, change it in a and also, it's very important to start collecting data on us. currently, data is not being collected on the tgncnb community. >>th thank you, ms. johnson, i t itth right. now, mr.an johns, there is a po from the human rights campaign

that reveals the covid-19 pandemicg positioned many lgbtq individuals at a greater risk of being unemployed, any comments on that? >> yeah, we should be clear that black people generally and black lgbtq influenced people are most likely to bedi under afforded o show up in spaces where we are exposed to the greatest level of risk, until providing resources including loan forgiveness and other forms,on reparation and support are i continuously important as we work through the pandemic inspired by the novel coronavirus. >> thank you so much, and my time is up. at this time, i would like to go to the chairwoman from missouri ms. wagner now recognized for five minutes. >> i thankme the chair. mr.or sears, can you elaborate, tell me why is access to credit

important in achieving economic freedom andnk prosperity? just in general, before we set the tablet here.ne >> sure, thank you for the question and for your support of thisy work. i don't think five minutes will give us nearly enough time to answer that t question, unfortunately. access to capital in our country is the under pin of literally everything that moves our economy. if lgbtqei people can't have access to mortgages we can't own homes, we are literally being taken advantage of by the system so if we look at the bill under discussion, it's about reporting, making sure lgbtq people areme listed in that definition of diversity so we can measure access to credit and housing and how that does impact economic outcomes. >> and how can our financial

institutions build relationships tony foster financial literacy, for instance? >> well, interestingly, they have been for many, many years. one ofed my favorite programs a meryl lance many years ago, called investing paid off, the founder of meryl lynch started when he was thee founder, how widows could invest in their pensions, expanding on this for many years is significant, how investing pays off for meryl, there are significant investments these companies are making but the challenge is we don't have the numbers, we don't have the ability for these institution to provide the access because we're not counted community. if goldman wants to expand 10,000 small businesses to focus on small businesses the chamber of commerce is the only place

they can go for the data, the federal government doesn't have the data. once we count, we can start to be a part of it. >> thank you for that statement, that kind of tees things up for max watson, because you talk, maxx watson, about data collection. can you elaborate on that a little bit more as mr. sears has just kind of teed up here? >> yeah, so there is a significant information gap about lgbtq people because there is inadequate data collection of sexual orientation and gender identity in federal surveys, so it is important for all data collections, where we are examining economic well-being but really just our communities overall that we include questions that ask people about their gender, their gender identity, their sexes assigned

at birth and their sexual orientation, and that would vastly improve our understanding of the unique circumstances that lgbtq people experience. and also, it's important to include these in enforcement data collectionn such as home mortgage disclosure act or forth coming 1071 data collection for small businesses. >> thank you, and mr. sears, what steps can financial institutions take to support the under banked communities. your thoughts in that arena. >> very least, looking at the policies, one ofew my colleague mentioned lgbtq people excluded from so many policies, hsp life a goodn example, rewrote the definition of insurable interest to expand to include lgbtq families inre places like asia where they still have no recognition. if you look at the w policies through every one of these financials institutions there e significanthe opportunities to

identify those exact same areas. if we're not counted in how these companies approach, then they're not going to be able to actually include us across the board. >> right, well thank you very much, all for your testimony here today. madam chair woman, i will yield backki the brief time that i ha left, thank you. >> thank you so much, that was our ranking member, congresswoman ann waters. an wagner, and i'm saying waters because i'm now seeing the chair of the financial services committee is in the room, so now, at this time, it gives me great pleasure to yield to chairwoman waters. >> thank you, very much, ms. beatty, i appreciate the opportunity and i just want to make clear that in march of 2021, the consumer financial protection bureau issued an interpretive rule that clarified thatec the equal credit opportunity act, which outlaws

discrimination inal lending and credit decisions includes, absolutely, protections against sexual orientation, discrimination, and gender identity discrimination. i just want to go further with the question about housing barriers. a large body of research as i think has been indicated, demonstrates that discrimination threatens access to housing and the stability of individuals in the lgbtq plus community. members of the lgbtq+ community are more likely to experience homelessness whiles. enduring discriminationma and harassment that extends their lent of homelessness. there are approximately 8,900 homeless youth in los angeles county f identifying as lgbtq,

transcendent individuals in particular at increased risk for violence and discrimination that keep them from accessing necessaryte shelter and service. in april, program guidance on supportingnc inclusive housing d shelters for getransgender peop which includes using transgender inclusive language intervening in conflicts to promote safety and holding staff and residents accountable for behavior within shelters. i just want to go to a point of discussion that was not necessarily inincluded in this discussionti today, and i don't think thatab when our witnesses came today they were asked to include any information about something that is happening in our society today as it relates ton transgender. there's a. discussion going on

right now, a big discussion, and it's just about the closing, and it's about david chapelle and it's about a woman we learned about who evidently committed suicide after identifying and working with and opening a show thatd she had been invited to participate in by david chapelle and i d have real, real sad thoughts aboutut her. i think her name is daphne, dorman, and i tear up when i think about her. and, of d course, david chapell is ad brilliant comedian and there's this discussion going on and i'm trying to listen to everything that's been said from the transgender community, from david chapelle on and on and on. i don't want to get into that today but i don't want us to

pretend that this is not going on, and that we're only concerned aboutnc the housing a the o homelessness and all of that. we're concerned about all of that, but we're also concerned about another kind of discussion that's going on, and while i'm not going to ask any particular questions about it today, i would ask that ms. tonya, downton walker, please give me a call and i will arrange a meeting with myself and ms. beatty because i want to talk to you and i want you to share with me what is going on, what you think, what you feel, and how, in what way can we show our concerns. so with that, i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you so much to chairwoman waters for extending

that invitation again, thank you. the gentleman fromutes. ohio mr gonzalesri recognized five minutes. >> thank you for holding this h hearing today and thank you to ourls witnesses for joining us today. thank you formm sharing your stories, and how they have impacted your lives but also the liveswo of the communities that you so passionately advocate on behalf of. the work you continue to do to advocate for those in similar situations is admirable, i think it's fair to say, i certainly hope so, that no one on this committee or subcommittee condones any sort of racism, hate, or discrimination, i believe that. i believe people should not have to live in fear of any kind of violence perpetrated toward them because of who they are. additionally, i want to extend myay thanks to ms. tonya, we ha veterans day coming up and you served ourur country quite admirably and i always believe we owek our deepest respect to those who have worn our country's uniforms, it's a big

sacrifice and one that we're grateful for soem i want to tha you for that. in the united states, i think access to should have common opportunities to create a before the future formo themsels and their loved ones. that's one of my top priorities here in congress and on this committee, how do we empower more families no matter what background you come from to make sure everybody has an opportunity at thehe american dream. i'm a son of immigrants, my e family, my father immigrated here from cuba in the '60s, certainly had barriers in his life and i wantion to make sur overcome as many of those barriers asag possible in this community. i supported home ownership legislation, extending protections to people who are discriminated against based on sex ori sexual orientation. no one should think they're denieded housing access becausef

theirri sexual orientation or gender identity. ipa simply don't believe that's right. it's my hope we can use this hearing to learn more on that topic and find effective bipartisan solutions where problems may exist. ms.at tonya i want to start wit you, and i really only have one question because i think you mentioned it well in your testimony. you provided a list of ideas that h.u.d. could implement to best support the lgbtq community, one is community partners and share best practices, could you detail for our community just what that guidance could look like and what are the best practices you think would have the biggest impact for these communities? >> hello, well, first of all, you know, definitely, you know, we need cultural sensitivity training for all staff and folks doingy business, you know, wit

shelters. we need supportive housing, you know, fully-staffed supportive housing with social workers, mental healthal professionals a medical care on staff. we also need transitional and permanent housing to help address, you know, thed needs o our community. so we need, like, wrap-around services iin would say, in thes shelters and in. this transitional housing, to adequately provide for the tgncnb community, at this point. >> just as a follow up, on a sensitivity training side, i think that makes a lot of sense. my question, when confronted with some of the challenges in theks shelters with folks who m

not t be making folks feel as welcome as they otherwise should, is your belief that it's, what i would call sort of accidentalno ignorance like hey just don't know exactly whatil say or do in this situation, i don't want to be offensive but i don't really know or do you think it's more willful discrimination or sort of a combo of both. >> i believe it's a combo of both and lack of cultural sensitivity training. i shthink, you know, during cov, trans people that were in shelters were allowed to stay in their own room. i thought that was wonderful and i like that model and i think wt should keep that model. trans gender people are not safe in single sex shelters, which is the male or the female, so i believe that, you know, if

trans people are housed in their own rooms that it's safer for them, and i think that, you know, that they should have wrap-around services in these shelters to help trans gender folks succeed inng society and t have to return to the shelter. with also, to have life skills training available, so they'll learn how to balance a check book, how to do credit -- >> gentleman's time has expired, but thank you. and i have a feeling we're going to be coming back, asking you a lot of questions, again, thank you. and thank you, mr. gonzales. the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. talid is now recognized for five minutes.

>> the pathway to bring many of yourmi lived experiences to congress, definitely missing here so i appreciate all of you so much inme speaking this trut again, that is missing in congress. i want to, give me some time to kind of go through some facts that i think are important. one fact is average of only about 49% of lgbtq+ americans own a home, far less than the overall average, which i think is 64%, facts even lower for lgbtq people of color, that's only at 35% of lgbtq plus individuals, and even lower than that, 35% for lgbtq latinos and 30% for black lgbtq americans to own theiren home. another fact which i think is really dramatic is lgbtq+ couples 73% more likely to be denied residential mortgages to

their peers. the other fact is the national transgender discrimination survey found among transgender color, 56% of americans, 52% of black folks, 51% of latins moved into a less desirable home or apartment because of antitransgender bias forced on them, again, even though they could and wanted better housing. these are just b a few of countless statistics that i think are really important. itq hate saying statistics becae these ares lived experiences, real lives, but you can see housing discrimination against lgbtq americans is a real crisis in our country. three years ago in michigan, a person could be fired from their job simply because of who they loved. fortunately, governor witmer eliminated that gross civil

rights ruling but shows how it can be in modern times. i cannot thank you enough inspiring so many, testifying before our committee. so i wanted to leave time for you, as well as others on the panel that we wanted to ask you about, that, really, the trauma that comes with living as you are in our country, and how do you think we should be addressing it in congress? >> if i may, i want to go on two things, one is congresswoman max ine waters, thank you for your leadership. often hidden in the shadows that

black people are facing more generally, i reached out for the opportunity to w further that discussion as well, and very much related to the previous conversation about the challenges with shelters, i want to offert up two things that a potential f remedies that would prevent people from needing shelters and one is decriminalizing sexar works, ofn the case black transwomen are forced into sex work as not being able to h show up, offere job interviews, promotion opportunities and support in more traditional economies so morecr talk about decriminalizi that work, also many face hardship from cannabis use or distribution, so decriminalizing cannabis should also be discussed when having these holistic conversations. >> if no one else on the panel has more to share, i yield back to the chairwoman.

>> thank you so much, for your comments and thank you to the witnesses for responding to her comments. ranking member wagner, do you have any more republican members in the queue? >> not on yet, but i'll let you proceed through your ranks and see who joins. >> thank you so ?much, the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, ms. dean now recognized for five minutes. >> i thank you chair beatty are you table to hear me? thank you very much, and thank you those who have come today to offer your powerful testimony. i've beenma thinking about smal businesses, i represent philadelphia, burkes county outside philadelphia and building a smalll business is e dream of many americans and i'm particularly interested inth wh are the obstacles that lgbtq+ small business owners and entrepreneurs face in engagic the financial system, perhaps

mr.r sears i can start with you and then go to mr. johns. >> thank you for your question and the work you're doing in philadelphia, i know my friend sims is doing a lot of work in the state as well. so i want to thank you for that support. >> in the pennsylvania house. >> he's quite a tremendous leader in ourur community and i your state. to your squestion, i would say several things. i think if you look at the number of, i'll take it outis o lgbtq for a second, minorities in the united states start more businessesic at a rate almost double that of the average population and why c is that? discrimination that still exists in corporate americata structure, despite th fact that 92% of fortune 500 companies have nondiscriminatio policies we all live and work in states who don't actually have that as a trickle down so don't experience that same protection in the state which they live. so the reasonst for the small businesses i think is, number

one, based on that. then, when they get into market place you look at p the access discrimination that still exists from religious discrimination all the way to refusing laws that allow people to deny service, credit and access to people based on quote-unquote sincerely religious-held believes and that is something we have noth talked about in th committee but i think the religious right to discriminate has to be talked about in the committee, it's notio a directl financial services issue but the single largest reason lgbtq people experience discrimination in our country andid it's a fal choice that we've created.in over half of lgbtq americans consider themselves religious, it is noten pitting religion against lgbtq people but has impact on smallnd businesses, impact on discrimination, on the laws chairwoman mentioned and the chairwoman committee, antilgbtq legislatures in our

country, demonizing the marginalized community because these people wantoh to play a sport. so all the way through the fortuneca 500 working to eradice this discrimination i think is significant. >> mr. johns, do you want to add to that and i'm interested if you want to address, a a maybe, problem of accessing capital? >> yes, ma'am, i'll say three things related to that, and one just to underscore everything my colleague said. one, i mentioned a little bit about it in the testimony, but when id think about the experience that our deputy director hadrv with regard to accessing capital for a home loan, often, discrimination and the ability for the financial service provider or the institution to make decisions about capital are, it is the challenge,io right, it is about personei sitting across the des from another person or virtually when we think about covid, making determination based on things outside of their financial portfolio, the things

they could otherwise control and one i think is most important in the context, acknowledging the point congresswoman waters made about thed march cip guidance there's no action, we are often denied access to capital, seldom given actual reasons for that and there is no private recourse or round of action once that happens to members of our community so passingat the equality act as it has been passed in the house would address that, and ensuring future civil rights legislation includes a right of action would address moments when financial services, providers and institutions fail to doal what they should otherwisese be doin. >> i thank you for all of that important information, and finally, ms. walker i'll address thispl to you, i read a very shameful statistic, according to our philadelphia inquirier, 40% or more of people aged 18 to 26 in philadelphia, which is my

neighboring district and it is my home city, are, who experiencegb homelessness identy as lgbtq. think about that, 40% of homelessor youth are lgbtq. what a shameful statistic for our country. ms. walker, what are the best practices for assisting lgbtq+ youth to become connected to permanent housing? >> well, first of all, we need to meet the youth where they are. i've worked with housing works here in new york city and we use a harmee reduction approach to meeting with the youth and also we need shelters, and transitional and permanent housing withup wrap-around services in theseo shelters an in this transitional housing to support this youth, to make surd

they're getting their nutrition, they're getting their -- >>m i apologize, my time has expired. >> time -- >> i yield back, but would love to getpo more information from u offline.to >> thank you. >> again, to the witness, thank you, you're going to be very popular as well asfr the other witnesses with us today, but the gentlelady's time has expired andd now the gentlewoman from texas, ms.fo garcia, who is als the vice chair of the subcommittee on diversity and inclusion iss now recognized fo five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair, and thank you for t bringing our attention to this very important hearing and i first want to start by also congratulating tanya and thanking her for her years of service and i know veteran's day is not until later this week but happy veteran's day and thank you for your service andis i hope that you

completed that social work school because that was my first degree in social work, so i hope you finished. if not, there's still time, you can come to houston we're very lgbtq k friendly in houston so come on down. you know, this has been a very interesting discussion this morning, because we know that the difficulties of the lgbtq community face are not discussed often enough. so thank you, again, madam chair, for underscoring and highlighting this very important issue. their struggle and how they are treated are legitimate, we need to focusus on them and make sur they truly do have the economic freedomm to build their wealth, to build their t homes, and to as were stated by the ranking member, you know, have the economicit freedom we should ha for all americans. of course, alllg of this is

compounded when they coincide with other barriers like race, ethnicity and age to name a few. more likely to be underbanked and more likely to experience barriers to credit access. i've said before, access to credit is access to building wealth and in turn, this lack of access is deeply concerning. i want to start with mr. sears.u a 2020 report by quality taxes found nondiscrimination protections would result in the addition of hundreds of thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars added to the gdp and tax receipts. i think you kind of alluded to that when you mentioned and i was surprised, you said 1/3 of lgbtq work, they'll take a 1/3 pay cut to go to a friendlier state. is the reverse true with texas passing a really horrible

antitransen bill last session, n we expect people to leave the state because becoming more unfriendly?un >> the short answer is yes, absolutely. i justt spent thiss last week i california, meeting with leaders in the tech community and the texas bill in particular, and eight other states passed antitrans bills particularly around youth, those bills specifically came up in the tech communityt in terms of expansio intoto texas. as wers saw in north carolina wn hb2 passed so many communities decided not to invest in north carolina, our leadership convened an investor leadership at that time, four billions invested in north carolina and six billion in texas in assets said theet discriminatory polics there around trans people increased the risk in market place andna decreased return on the the assets invested in those

states so there's a direct return in policy and response to discrimination so the short answerer is yes, companies pay attention to this significantly, because their qyouth, especiall gen-z and gen-y if those companies are based in states that are lgbtq unfriendly, which so many states are, it's an economic problem. >> there's a benefit but there's also some -- i don't want to say a penalty, but i guess it is. that's why it's so important to highlight these issues. next question is for watson. you do important work in addressing the barriers that your community face every day. can you speak to the issues that are created where the financial service industry is not actively measuring, quantifying and targeting relief to the lgbtq community. >> thank you. i do think the lack of attention

that financial firms are paying to the lgbtq community and the unique issues they experience are really largely because the financial services industry, you know, is very traditional. frequently relying on systems that were designed with heterosexual and heteronormative assumptions. the systems are less able to process and unique needs of lgbtq such as name changes. >> i'm sorry, the gentle lady's

time is up. thank you very much to witness and thank you to our vice chair garcia. the gentleman from massachusetts is now recognized. he's also the vice chair of the full committee of financial services. you are now recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. mr. johns, my question is for you on housing. a study by hud studied the same treatment when inquired by apartments compared to online to similar other heterosexual couples are treated. it's the first time hud studied same-sex housing discrimination, found they received a lower response rate. trying to keep all variables the same. the financial services committee

had several hearings regarding the employment of housing regarding health and education for young people. this has been an issue the chairwoman of the subcommittee and the of all committee have been outspoken leaders. how has hud worked to deal with this discrimination and has the agency continued to track any housing bias for same-sex couples? >> i appreciate that. the first question, what has been done. two thing, one is the provision of housing vouchers and subsidies for housing programs. a disproportinate share is

youth. the second part is have there been accountability around those actions? >> accountability but has hud continues to track any type of bias either in rental or in homeowner sales to same-sex couples? >> i do not have an answer to that question. i will work with our deputy director to circle back and provide you with one. what we know is that there are very few, if any, federal data collection enterprises that account for intersexual identities. most will not ask question about sexual identity.

will not ask questions that account for race and ethnicity. we should think about federal data and collectioning efforts. >> i appreciate that response. i want to give anybody else on the panel an opportunity to weigh in on housing discrimination against the lgbtqi community. i'll yield back the balance of my time.

>> i can thank our witnesses and adjourn the hearing. >> i thank all of our witnesses. it's been most informative. i look forward to move forward. i know we'll continue to dialogues that we have begun here today. i thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. i can tell we have lot more we want to hear from you. for this first ever dni sub economy, we are thankful to you in helping us grow.

without objection. all members will have five legislative days within which to submit extraneous materials to the chair. i remind members to submit written questions and materials for the record to the e-mail address provided to your staff. without objections, i would like to enter statements from the credit union national association and the human rights campaign for inclusion. with no objections. the hearing is now adjourned. >> thank you. what's your question or comment for rush? mr. golden has written a book about his time as call screener and official show observer and producer with the most popular

radio talk show during the past 30 years. rush limbaugh died on february 17th, 2021. in his book which golden says is a tribute, he writes about his love of radio and how the limbaugh program came together behind the scenes. >> on this episode of book notes plus, book notes plus is available on the cspan now app or where ever you get your podcast.

a look at increasing diversity in the intelligence community.