Quality of life survey under way

A Baton Rouge nonprofit group that promotes the fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has posted an informal, online survey to study the quality of life of that local community.

Capital City Alliance has joined with an LSU School of Social Work professor and one of her classes to create the survey to better understand the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Baton Rouge and the surrounding area, said Kevin Serrin, Capital City Alliance’s chairman of the board.

“We hope to use the data as an advocacy tool,” Serrin said recently.

Serrin said the Capital City Alliance has been working on a human rights ordinance he wants to eventually present to city and state officials.

He said he hopes the results of the survey can show leaders why a law is needed.

The survey is the second one Capital City Alliance and LSU Social Work professor Elaine M. Maccio have worked on together to track quality of life issues for this community.

The first one was conducted in 2007 and had 350 respondents, Serrin said.

“The results showed Baton Rouge had a long way to go in tolerance,” Serrin said of the 2007 survey results.

According to the 2007 survey results, about seven in 10 respondents said discrimination against them is common in and around Baton Rouge, and four in 10 said they had been victims in the preceding 12 months.

The discrimination in the results was overwhelmingly nonviolent and largely consisted of public, nasty name-calling, the respondents said.

Two respondents, both LSU students, said they were victims of assault.

Still, only 16 percent of the respondents in the 2007 survey said they personally felt unsafe and only 15 percent thought law enforcement treated them unfairly.

Serrin and Maccio said they are hoping to get 1,000 respondents to the new survey.

“With the advent of social media, we hope to get more people to participate,” Serrin said.

In the new survey, questions are about discrimination, political affiliation, local resources, families and other demographic information.

Serrin said he and Maccio are hoping to get “brain drain” information by asking people if they are leaving Baton Rouge, or why they might stay.

There also are questions about where they spend their entertainment money.

“Are they spending it here in Baton Rouge or are they going off to New Orleans or Lafayette or other places.” Serrin said.

Serrin said the survey, which people can take anonymously, has 50 questions and takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Those interested in taking the survey should visit http://ccabatonrouge.org/.

Comments

1) Comment by BacknBR - 11/10/2011

I don't see how this is "pushing a lifestyle' on anyone. Gays simply don't want to be fired simply because they were born gay. There is no hidden agenda here, just simple Human Rights.

2) Comment by phil - 10/10/2011

According to this article one purpose of the survey apparently is to get a special human rights ordinance passed. This seems to me to be the beginning of just another attempt at getting something like the One Baton Rouge Resolution passed. So here we go again with the same old debates in Baton Rouge. I personally do not care what the LGBT people do behind their own closed doors, but how about quit trying to continue to push that lifestyle on everyone else?

3) Comment by makeBRbetter - 10/10/2011

Well so, I don't think that trying to capture data about the quality of life of one historically under-served and under-represented population means that the same data collection should not be collected about other at risk populations. There should be studies on the quality of life of Baton Rouge residents living in poverty and so on. Capital City Alliance is the organization for LGBT people in town, so of course they will be interested in collecting data on this population in particular. I have just taken a look at the survey, and in terms of content, it does a surprisingly good job at factoring in things like race and level of income that "phil" was getting at. Also, "being_stupid" makes no, and I mean zero, valid arguments about a real connection between a nonprofit in town doing a study of adults that already identify as LGBT and it somehow becoming part of school curriculum as a result. That is silly and it is my hope that people recognize that. Additionally, that comment is wildly offensive and transphobic and really beyond that scope of eliciting substantive response.

4) Comment by phil - 10/10/2011

Quality of life? How about the quality of life for all of the people living in poverty in EBR Parish and the quality of life of people getting murdered in this city, just to name a couple of real quality of life issues? Then we can talk about the quality of life for older folks who have had a lot of their savings disappear etc. My quality of life is not so great either as an older straight somewhat religious person. Where is the survey that also includes all of the other majority groups?

5) Comment by Being_Stupid - 10/10/2011

The next step will be teaching children in school that it is okay to have a sex change if you are not happy being a boy and want to become a girl. "The Boy that wanted to become a Girl" will become mandatory reading for 3rd Graders and will teach our youth tolerance. Teach our boys (especially those that lack athletic abilities) that it is okay to wear high heels, carry a purse, and put on make-up. That being a homosexual is completely normal and not a mental disease anymore. Teach our youth tolerance. YOU WILL BE GAY!!! ***** IS WATCHING YOU.