GAY NEWS
Gay Men and the Great Recession—How Are We Faring?
By L. K. Regan
Published Aug 11, 2009
Published Aug 11, 2009
The current economy has been tough on everyone. But how is the gay community faring? Despite early expectations that gay men would be the only demographic to carry on as usual—the famous "double income, no kids" effect—the current picture is much more mixed. Here's the state of gays and the economy.
Conventional wisdom holds that the gay community ignores recessions. It's not that we don't experience the pain, the theory goes, it's that we just keep going out and spending as if nothing happened. Early in the crisis, in 2008, headlines blared phrases such as, "Do Gays Love A Recession?", proclaiming that the gay community would ride out the storm in its usual high style. The logic behind such assumptions was simple. We gay men like to go out, and we like to look good when we do. And without kids to pay for, we can supposedly afford it better than most. Market researchers carefully studied the gay community's purchasing habits and published studies citing the money spent by gay consumers on fashion, grooming products, music...you get the idea.
Now, deep into the recession, the evidence is much more mixed. Several prominent gay businesses have been forced to close up shop, including New York's Oscar Wilde Bookshop and supper club Mecca in San Francisco. The New York City Gay Men's Chorus reports that they are in severe financial distress. Gay newspapers have cut staff—as happened at the Gay and Lesbian Times in San Diego—or shut down all together, as did the Windy City Times in Chicago. And gay advocacy groups have suffered the same cutbacks as other non-profits, with Lambda Legal and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) both cutting staff.
There are also signs that the unstable job market has disproportionately cut into gay men's sense of emotional health as well. Recently the British mental health charity Mind released part of an extensive survey of English men and women looking for evidence of their different experiences of the recession. They found that 37 percent of men were feeling low or depressed. Among those, middle-aged men were substantially more likely to have suicidal thoughts than were women, and all men were less likely to talk to either a doctor or friends about their depression. In particular, men tend to dwell on job security and work issues, the study found, and to sink quickly into depression upon losing their jobs.
These effects are general to men, but the survey pointed out that some demographics are hit particularly hard. Gay and bisexual men are more than four times as likely to commit suicide as heterosexual men. According to Mind’s Chief Executive, Paul Farmer, "The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact. Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job, he loses a large part of his identity, putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy. The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives." For gay men, the pain of ostracization from community and, often, family, can take an additional toll.
There is one area where we seem to be carrying on as usual: travel. As the economy began to unravel, travel marketers advised targeting the gay community, on the grounds that the American gay community spends around 70 billion dollars annually on travel, and that gay travelers do not change their plans as easily as other clients. As one newspaper succinctly put it, "Most gays and lesbian households don't have children, and so have more income for discretionary spending. They also aren't tied to the school year and can travel year-round." In March, the chairman of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association told the Washington Times that his own gay vacation company, Zoom Vacations, was seeing booming business.
But even within this mini-boom there are signs of trouble. Late last year in California, Saratoga Springs, a gay-oriented spa resort, hit reduced bookings and credit trouble that threatened to close its doors. Earlier this year, South Florida, home to popular gay destinations Miami, Key West, and Fort Lauderdale, experienced a marked downturn in gay travel that deeply concerned local businesses. To the extent that travel has picked up again, it has been in large part thanks to deep discounts and budget packages that have helped travel rebound, but kept profits down. For budget-seekers, however, this has been high season. As hotel consultant Richard Gray told the Miami Sun-Sentinel, "The approach in the e-mails we receive now is: 'What specials do you have?' not 'What are your rates?'"
We don't yet know how the LGBT community has fared economically in the recession compared to the nation at large. But one Oklahoma state official believes we're to blame for the economic downturn, our continued contributions to the travel industry notwithstanding. State Representative Sally Kern penned an "Oklahoma Citizens' Proclamation for Morality" that was signed by supporters at the state capitol. In the proclamation, Kern blames the economic troubles on the fact that "this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery." Good to know.
Conventional wisdom holds that the gay community ignores recessions. It's not that we don't experience the pain, the theory goes, it's that we just keep going out and spending as if nothing happened. Early in the crisis, in 2008, headlines blared phrases such as, "Do Gays Love A Recession?", proclaiming that the gay community would ride out the storm in its usual high style. The logic behind such assumptions was simple. We gay men like to go out, and we like to look good when we do. And without kids to pay for, we can supposedly afford it better than most. Market researchers carefully studied the gay community's purchasing habits and published studies citing the money spent by gay consumers on fashion, grooming products, music...you get the idea.
Now, deep into the recession, the evidence is much more mixed. Several prominent gay businesses have been forced to close up shop, including New York's Oscar Wilde Bookshop and supper club Mecca in San Francisco. The New York City Gay Men's Chorus reports that they are in severe financial distress. Gay newspapers have cut staff—as happened at the Gay and Lesbian Times in San Diego—or shut down all together, as did the Windy City Times in Chicago. And gay advocacy groups have suffered the same cutbacks as other non-profits, with Lambda Legal and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) both cutting staff.
There are also signs that the unstable job market has disproportionately cut into gay men's sense of emotional health as well. Recently the British mental health charity Mind released part of an extensive survey of English men and women looking for evidence of their different experiences of the recession. They found that 37 percent of men were feeling low or depressed. Among those, middle-aged men were substantially more likely to have suicidal thoughts than were women, and all men were less likely to talk to either a doctor or friends about their depression. In particular, men tend to dwell on job security and work issues, the study found, and to sink quickly into depression upon losing their jobs.
These effects are general to men, but the survey pointed out that some demographics are hit particularly hard. Gay and bisexual men are more than four times as likely to commit suicide as heterosexual men. According to Mind’s Chief Executive, Paul Farmer, "The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact. Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job, he loses a large part of his identity, putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy. The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives." For gay men, the pain of ostracization from community and, often, family, can take an additional toll.
There is one area where we seem to be carrying on as usual: travel. As the economy began to unravel, travel marketers advised targeting the gay community, on the grounds that the American gay community spends around 70 billion dollars annually on travel, and that gay travelers do not change their plans as easily as other clients. As one newspaper succinctly put it, "Most gays and lesbian households don't have children, and so have more income for discretionary spending. They also aren't tied to the school year and can travel year-round." In March, the chairman of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association told the Washington Times that his own gay vacation company, Zoom Vacations, was seeing booming business.
But even within this mini-boom there are signs of trouble. Late last year in California, Saratoga Springs, a gay-oriented spa resort, hit reduced bookings and credit trouble that threatened to close its doors. Earlier this year, South Florida, home to popular gay destinations Miami, Key West, and Fort Lauderdale, experienced a marked downturn in gay travel that deeply concerned local businesses. To the extent that travel has picked up again, it has been in large part thanks to deep discounts and budget packages that have helped travel rebound, but kept profits down. For budget-seekers, however, this has been high season. As hotel consultant Richard Gray told the Miami Sun-Sentinel, "The approach in the e-mails we receive now is: 'What specials do you have?' not 'What are your rates?'"
We don't yet know how the LGBT community has fared economically in the recession compared to the nation at large. But one Oklahoma state official believes we're to blame for the economic downturn, our continued contributions to the travel industry notwithstanding. State Representative Sally Kern penned an "Oklahoma Citizens' Proclamation for Morality" that was signed by supporters at the state capitol. In the proclamation, Kern blames the economic troubles on the fact that "this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery." Good to know.
badmikeyt wrote:
I'll agree with most of the comments above.
Why do we perpetuate the stereotype that gay men are all hot, partnered, and travel the world extensively hopping from circuit party to circuit party? What benefit do we realize? A> it's not true, and B> it's not true.
There are many more macroeconomic factors at play in several of the things you listed in your article. One specific example - Windy City Times here in Chicago. It was a free publication supported wholly through advertising. Businesses cut their ad budgets and it folded.. it wasn't a reflection of individual gay men and their spending habits.
Totally second the comments on marraige rights. Don't know more than 2-3 couples that I would even consider marraige-ready, and I think personal concerns about safety and discrimination are far more important to most of us, even though they as individual issues are not as visible as marraige.
Seriously, don't perpetuate old myths/stereotypes about gays having these huge expendable (or double) incomes because in most cases, it's not true.
Aug 13 6:06 PM
metta8 wrote:
I have a single income household....just me....living in an area where most people have at least 2 profefssional income households. I'm self employed and my business is down. But I cut my expenses down as much as possible early on to help prepare for this. Seem to be ok. How much money I make has never been a focus on my life. I feel fortunate even though the recession has affected me.
Aug 13 5:49 PM
DuluthMN wrote:
What 'double income'? This is what really gets me about the whole gay marriage fight - the majority of other gay men I've known over the past 20 years are MUCH more worried about getting beaten, robbed, fired, etc. (basic human rights) than they are about marriage - many of us, after watching friends and ourselves unable to find a relationship that lasts more than six months have 'shaken off' the whole idea of even meeting anyone. Where are all these relationships leading to marriage happening? They aren't online. I don't see them in my everyday life. Neither do many other gay man I know. Certainly, there would have to be some visibility of these kinds of gay relationships if there is so much push to legalize marriage. But again, I am not seeing it.
My point is this: most of us are ON OUR OWN by ourselves. If we lose a job, if we lose our housing, many of us have no cushion, partner, family or anyone so it's likely we could be on the streets. Many people in society fail to realize this; if you are a single adult with no children (particularly a single male) you qualify for absolutely nothing in terms of health care, social services (unless you are an addict), it's extremely hard to qualify for any housing programs because they are all geared towards people with kids. It's difficult being gay because since we all expect other gay people to be successful, wealthy and elitist, we pretend not to know the gay men who are a paycheck away from being homeless. We figure it's his own fault for being in his situation, let him deal with it. It is very surreal to me when I see men who are sexually aroused by other men (usually young straight men) attend festivals called 'Pride' while at the same time picking and choosing what gay men are worthy of being acknowledged based on the most prejudiced, bigoted criteria. This is what 40 years of post-Stonewall has accomplished. Grown men, with the emotions of an 9th grade rich girl, whose priorities are almost 100% s
Aug 12 11:39 PM
NotThatOld wrote:
This article includes the paragraph which says that 37% of British middle age men do not share their depression with a doctor or with friends. Nothing new here. A survey conducted here has shown that the highest rate of suicide in Britain are among young men in the industrial North of England who struggle to find employment. The basic cause of the high rate of suicide among them is keeping their feelings bottled up. With our British stiff upper lip, they suffer in silence. But what really annoys me is that the British stiff upper lip is not only promoted by well paid, middle class journalists at the Daily Mail newspaper office, but by many English church-going Christians as well.
Aug 12 10:48 PM
Gun_Show wrote:
That article,was not very insightful or helpful. My partner has been out of work for a year. Like anyone gay or straight it has had a negative impact on our lives. Luckily I have continued to work and can support us. Perhaps you should hire my partner to write a more hands on experience about how being out of work for a year has been for a person. I certainly did not find the christian rant at the end the least bit germane.
Aug 12 3:02 PM
jrs1 wrote:
--- Gay men " shake it off well " during tough times? Perhaps, it has something to do with the fact that we, as gay men, experience life in a social recession on a regular basis. Again: perhaps ...
Aug 12 2:56 PM
CreaseHem wrote:
Well, I have two thoughts for this. One is that doing something about the general psyche of our male population around the subjects of jobs and identity will improve our well being. Two is important jobs could be emphasized in community oriented place to guide our people, giving advice to what makes money and possible worthy investing strategies.
Aug 12 1:41 PM