The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), which serves the Black LGBTQ community, has created the Lavender Book, an app that lists facilities and businesses which will kindly serve them.
What We Know:
- David Johns, Executive Director of the NBJC, said Black queer and trans people face higher chances of violence and harassment many don’t need to worry about. Because of this, he dreamed about creating a way for this community to “more easily find safe spaces.” The NBJC modeled their app after the Jim Crow-era Green Book. Compiled by Victor Hugo Green, the Green Book provided identified businesses that would openly welcome traveling African-Americans.
- Out in Tech, a nonprofit for LGBTQIA+ individuals who work in the technology field, collaborated with the NJBC on this project. Lavender Book’s key feature utilizes a crowdsourced search engine to show users safe establishments in many areas. They can define the resources they are looking for and also provide a list of attributes such as gender-neutral restrooms, Black- or trans-owned, or LGBTQ-trained staff. Users may also review a business, or suggest one be listed.
- Beta-testers for the app, as well as Out in Tech officials, enjoy the app so far. Sage Grace Dolan-Sandrino, a 20-year-old member of NBJC’s Youth and Young Adult Action Council, stated it makes her feel more comfortable as a Black and Latina queer and trans woman. She told NBC News “it is imperative to my survival that I know in what spaces I am safe.”
“Since moving to upstate New York for college, it has become incredibly aware to me that so many of the spaces are not safe,” Dolan-Sandrino said.
- Peter Redmond, Out in Tech’s New York City chapter head and events producer, said he hopes the app grows to include not only places like restaurants, but also essential services like healthcare. He also mentioned that a diverse team of engineers, product designers, and UX created Lavender Book “for us, by us.”
“I have found myself traveling to cities where I’m not exactly sure will I be welcomed in certain establishments, so I’ve definitely had to lean on services like this in the past… So to have the Lavender Book now join all of these other services out there, I think it’s only going to just create a better experience for anybody that’s looking for services where they know they won’t be discriminated against,” Redmond emphasized.
- Johns also affirmed he understood how much “uncompensated labor” goes into searching for a safe space. He informed NBC News that Black people and others with intersectional identities in the LGBTQIA+ sector spent a lot of time contacting and asking community networks to pinpoint locations where any chances of discrimination or violence were slim.
- In addition, NBC News mentioned the disproportionate rates of violence against Black LGBTQIA+ people played a factor in gathering information. For example, a 2013 study from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found that 58% of LGBTQ and HIV-affected persons who reported hate violence were people of color. It also discovered that this group was 1.4 times more likely to experience physical violence. Additionally, they are twice as likely to encounter threats and intimidation from a hate violence event. Furthermore, Johns reported in April alone, the NBJC reported the deaths of at least seven transgender women. All were women of color, five of them being black. The month of May has already seen three more trans women of color pass away. At least 24 transgender or gender nonconforming people have died this year; the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) believes the year will end with a higher number of deaths seen in 2020, “the most violent year on record” since 2013.
- The Lavender Book’s publishing comes at a time where many states want to pass anti-trans legislation. TIME and the HRC write that this year alone, over 250 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced. For example, Mississippi recently passed a ban on transgender athletes competing on female sports teams. States such as Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, also attempted or will attempt to pass legislatures to block trans minors from receiving gender-affirming healthcare. However, the Biden Administration declared last week they would ensure LGBTQIA+ patients do not face healthcare discrimination.
Johns anticipates that the Lavender Book can help fellow LGBTQIA+ members navigate their travels more easily. Additionally, he highlights that not only can users use the app for traveling, but they may also use it to assist people in finding “friendly and inclusive local businesses in their own cities and neighborhoods.”
