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The Impact of the War on Terror on LGBTSTQ Communities

Since September 11, 2001, the mobilization of racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-activist sentiment in U.S., and major law and policy changes which undermine civil rights and civil liberties of all people, have harmed communities around the country and the world. As activists fighting for sexual and gender self-determination, we have seen the particular impact that these developments have had within our communities, and we strive to fight for solidarity amongst all communities under attack in the current political climate, knowing that struggles for self-determination are only meaningful when they are multi-issue and multi-strategy. The points below are intended to offer an initial analysis of the impact of the War on Terror on LGBTSTQ communities, and we invite you to replicate, expand, and use them as you see fit to build understanding and resistance.

  1. Targeted and increased military recruitment, including the possible reinstatement of the draft.
    The military has disproportionately focused recruitment efforts on poor people and people of color with the false promise of funding for college and job training, and in the case of immigrants a 'fast track' for citizenship. Further tactics include a provision from the education bill, 'No Child Left Behind,' which enables military recruiters to force school districts to give them the names of and contact information for high school seniors and juniors. The only way to remove a student's name from this list is to have a parent or guardian sign a form to 'opt out.' Hypocritically, during times of war, the government has paused their homophobic 'don't ask, don't tell' policy while still maintaining a culture of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and violence.
  2. Violence and occupation at home and abroad.
    As the 'war on terror' is used to justify occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, we see a simultaneous increase in the occupation of low-income people of color communities by the police. The extension of the torture, rape and humiliation in the U.S. prison industrial complex to prisons in Iraq furthers this connection. In addition, violence against LGBTSTQ communities both by the police and others, has increased and is carried out with impunity.
  3. The War on Terror takes up resources needed for social programs, welfare education, housing, health, and human needs.
    1. Funding for HIV/AIDS and LGBTST-specific services such as drop-in centers, employment training, and housing for homeless LGBTST youth, programs addressing LGBTST domestic violence, and hate-crime prevention programs has been cut in order to fund the war on terror.
    2. In 2004 the federal government will spend approximately $120 billion on the war on terror, including $18 billion on homeland security, in 2004. This figure represents twice the cost of all federal education programs, and three times the cost of all federal housing programs.(1)
    3. On February 2, 2004, Bush sent Congress a $2.39 trillion budget for fiscal year 2005 that includes a 7 percent increase in military spending, bringing the annual military budget to $401.7 billion, which increase to fund the continuing occupation of Iraq and U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a bill approved by the House Budget Committee will enforce caps on discretionary spending while exempting tax cuts and spending on the "War on Terror" from the caps. As a result, the caps will lead to severe cuts in domestic programs other than homeland security. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "The budget calls for funding cuts in domestic discretionary programs outside homeland security that total $113 billion over five years and reach $36 billion in 2009." These cuts include:
      1. An 11% cut to community health clinics in low-income and underserved areas, as well as AIDS treatment and supportive services by 2005;
      2. $660 million from funding to school districts to meet the needs of low-income children by 2009;
      3. 20% cuts to community and regional development programs by 2009;
      4. $5.6 billion from community health centers, the National Institutes of Health, the CDC, and the FDA by 2009;
      5. Growing cuts in job training programs from 3 percent in 2006 to 7 percent in 2009;
      6. $6.2 billion from primary and secondary education, job training, and social service programs by 2009;
      7. A 40 percent cut to the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program by 2009;
      8. An 8% cut in homeless assistance grants by 2009;
      9. A 10% cut to Indian Health Services by 2009. (2)
    4. Between 2001 and 2004, federal spending on defense, homeland security and international affairs increased 48%, while funding for domestic programs other than "homeland security" grew by only 13.2%.(3) War expenditures since 2001, including $44.8 billion spent on homeland security, total $219 billion. (4)
    5. If passed in 2004, the CLEAR Act would cost almost $13 billion between 2005 and 2009 to cover the costs of state and local government enforcement of immigration laws. CLEAR's budget for 2005 - 2009 would include $1 billion per year for state and local governments to detain and jail immigrants. The bill also contains provisions which would allow for additional funds to be spent to train state and local police to enforce immigration laws and input information into databases accessed by state and local police. (5)
  • Tightened Restrictions on Mobility
    'War on Terror' tactics compromise freedom of movement. They include blanket detention policies and deportations which separate LGBT couples and families (particularly those including transgender partners, whose marriages have been invalidated by recent policy changes). These tactics also block asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing repression due to their actual or perceived sexual orientations or gender identities. And finally, the climate this approach fosters is one where suspicion and intimidation prevent immigrants, especially LGBTSTQ immigrants, from accessing legal counsel, accurate information, and other needed services.
  • Polarization in our communities
    The U.S. government's portrayal of the current political situation as a struggle between 'us and them' has increased polarization in our communities. Some ways in which the polarization is manifested are: the scapegoating of Arab and South Asian Communities; and internalized homophobia and attempts of assimilation by LGBTSTQ people in an effort to escape targeting and/or persecution.
  • Attacks on activists and activist organizations
    Surveillance of activists within and outside the US has increased in recent years. Monitoring of meetings and gatherings, detaining of social change activists for long periods of time without criminal charges, and arrests have had a chilling impact on effective organizing in all communities.
  • Trans people have been targeted and especially impacted by new travel and security measures and changes to identity document policies
    New federal warnings and state and local policies have targeted gender non-conforming people as suspicious and undermined hard-won rights to change name and gender. Since September 11th, 2001, the Department of Transportation has issued an advisory to all state DMV's advising them to tighten up procedures to change gender on drivers' licenses. The federal government issued a warning to all airports that security should watch out for men in women's clothing. In local jurisdictions, procedures for changing your name have been made more difficult. These developments cause trans people to be under greater suspicion and open to increased harassment and make it more difficult to access basic identity documents people need to work, get housing and go to school. Proposals for a national identity card and for new airport technology that scans through passengers' clothing would further impact trans communities. New barriers to accessing I.D. have also had a negative impact on youth and the homeless who often lack I.D. but need it to access basic services.
  • Mobilization of patriotic conservative understandings of family have targeted poor women and LGBTSTQ people
    With the rhetoric about patriotism and traditional American values increasing, conservative ideas about families and policies geared toward promoting heterosexuality and abstinence have been on the rise. Bush is currently proposing to spend $1.5 billion of public assistance money that should go to help needy families on 'marriage promotion'-coercing poor women into marriage. At the same time, sentiment against LGBTSTQ families is on the rise with the proposal of the Federal Marriage Amendment, making heterosexual marriage the only form of marriage under the Constitution. The increase of conservative rhetoric about family structure and sexuality goes hand-in-hand with the promotion of violent military action at home and abroad.

    NOTES

    1. SACRIFICE IS RELATIVE: Cost of War, Though High, Remains Far Less Than Cost of Tax Cuts, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 11, 2003.

    2.ADMINSTRATION'S BUDGET WOULD CUT HEAVILY INTO MANY AREAS OF DOMESTIC DISCRETIONARY SPENDING AFTER 2005, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 5, 2004.

    3. WAR AND ANTI-TERRORISM SPENDING OR RAMPANT GROWTH IN DOMESTIC PROGRAMS: WHAT HAS CAUSED THE LARGE INCREASES IN APPROPRIATIONS BILLS SINCE 2001?, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 2003.

    4. WAR, TAX CUTS, AND THE DEFICIT, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, July 8, 2003.

    5. What the Clear Act Will Do, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, April 2004.