Is the US government prioritizing disaster relief for 'LGBTQ people'?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may be prioritizing aid for disaster victims who identify with the LGBTQ group, according to resurfaced footage from last year.
‘Disaster equity’
A video of a preparedness meeting from early 2023 shows FEMA Mitigation Emergency Management Specialist Tyler Atkins, who says his pronouns are “he/they,” advocating to focus disaster relief on “LGBTQIA” people.
“LGBTQIA people and people who have been disadvantaged already are struggling. They already have their own things to deal with. So you add a disaster on top of that, it’s just compounding on itself. I think that is maybe the why of why we’re having this discussion. It isn’t being talked about, it isn’t being socialized. We’re not paying attention to this community,” Atkins said.
Maggie Jarry, an emergency coordinator with the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), responded that FEMA relief is no longer about helping the most people possible.
“The shift that we’re seeing right now is a shift in emergency management from utilitarian principles where everything is designed for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people to disaster equity,” she said.
Jarry went on to suggest that government policies should be reconfigured to prioritize “disadvantaged communities” like LGBTQ.
“But we have to do more, right? And so this topic is intersecting, I think, with a number of other topics where we have to look at policies and understand to what extent they have disadvantaged communities that have less assets, communities that have pre-existing vulnerabilities in accessing disaster-related recovery supports.”
The meeting was titled “Helping the LGBTQI+ Community Before Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation Considerations.” It was attended by FEMA Office of External Affairs Director Justin Knighten and FEMA Pride Federal Employee Resource Group Director of Education Reilly Hirst, among others.
2020 FEMA report advocates prioritizing LGBTQ
FEMA has been urging priority relief for LGBTQ people since 2020 when it published a report claiming they are more vulnerable than others in natural disasters. The “LGBTQ+ community . . . may require additional or distinct support after a disaster occurs or during steady-state disaster preparation,” the report said.
The agency has been heavily criticized for its disastrous response in aiding Americans displaced by Hurricane Helene. FEMA has not only been lax in providing relief but has also been actively preventing aid from being delivered, according to those who have tried.
