A Victory for Homeless Domestic Partners

Queers for Economic Justice is a progressive organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation. Our goal is to challenge and change the systems that create poverty and economic injustice in our communities, and to promote an economic system that embraces sexual and gender diversity. QEJ, 16 West 32nd Street #10H, New York, NY 10001; 212/564-3608

As of February 1st, homeless couples who have registered with the City Clerk as domestic partners will be sheltered as families in the same way as married couples.

Queers for Economic Justice is pleased to announce that due to the hard work of many community members and organizations, and the support of the New York City Council, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has finally changed its domestic partner policy. DHS will no longer continue to discriminate against domestic partners seeking family shelter. Domestic partners will no longer have to provide extra documentation (burdensome proof which is not required of married couples) in order to be sheltered together as a family. As of February 1st, homeless couples who have registered with the City Clerk as domestic partners will be sheltered as families in the same way as married couples. This policy will apply to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. In addition, the new policy grants "family status" to homeless adults who have other family relationships (e.g., grandparent and grandson/daughter, or siblings) who have resided together for six of the previous twelve months, and to street homeless couples who are assisted by an outreach worker. Currently this is a six-month pilot program, but it is our hope and expectation that this policy will be made permanent at the end of the trial period. During this time, we will need to monitor how the pilot program is going. In particular, we want to pay attention to couples who cannot get domestic partnership certificates, to make sure that they will still have available to them the options that existed before this pilot program. This victory came after over two years of hard work by Queers for Economic Justice, working hand-in-hand with a coalition that includes the Coalition for the Homeless, the LGBT Community Center, the Peter Cicchino Youth Project, and many other diverse groups and organizations. It was because of this community collaboration that we won the victory. .