LA County wants to build a network of LGBTQ+ ‘third spaces’

Topline:

What’s in the motion: A motion authored by supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn instructs various county departments to identify funding for the effort, develop minimum standards for accessible and affirming LGBTQ+ third spaces and take stock of existing county-run spaces and community-based groups that could be part of the network.

County officials are prioritizing two specific groups: young people between the ages of 12 and 26 and older adults above age 60.

Why now? The L.A. County effort is aimed at combatting social isolation among LGBTQ+ Angelenos, who experience high suicide rates as young people and are more likely to live alone when older. Officials cite a national decline in LGBTQ+ gathering over the past two decades that worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The LGBTQ+ community is under attack, and the places they used to turn to for refuge are disappearing,” Supervisor Solis said. The county motion comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that states can ban transgender people from participating in girls' school sports teams.

Community support: Representatives from LGBTQ+ groups, including youth organizers, said they support the county effort and emphasized the need for third spaces:

• “Third spaces ensure that LGBTQ youth have access to places where they feel safe, seen and heard — not afraid or silenced,” said Liliana Simpson-Castaneda, a UCLA student from the San Gabriel Valley.
  
• “As the facilitator for a trans peer support group, I have witnessed these spaces provide a place where members felt safe to come as their authentic selves with no fear of discrimination,” Alex Bass, a policy associate for the TransLatin@ Coalition, told county supervisors.
  
• “For decades, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has seen firsthand how affirming spaces can change and even save lives,” said Joey Hernández, the L.A. LGBT Center’s policy director.

What’s next?: The motion does not appropriate any funds but directs county departments to find some. It also instructs the county to tap into existing community networks and venues. A report back is expected in 90 days.