An Examination of the Social, Political, and Economic Experiences of the Latinx LGBTQ Population in Southern California

Latinx LGBTQ communities within the United States are largely underrepresented socially, politically, and economically. This particular group’s overlap of race/ethnicity and sexual identity/orientation presents unique challenges for those who identify with this group. This paper closely examines the lived experience of Latinx LGBTQ members in Southern California. Using survey research and elite interviews, I find that LGBTQ Latinxs have high levels of support from some groups, but not others, that their levels of political participation are low, and that they experience equal levels of financial security and financial insecurity. Using Southern California as a case study, this research contributes to our understanding of the lived experience of the Latinx LGBTQ population in the United States.