ABOVE: Tornado damage in Kentucky. Photo via Los Angeles Blade.
Queer Kentucky – an LGBTQ+ nonprofit located in Louisville, Kentucky – has extended a helping hand to LGBTQ Kentuckians affected by the recent tornadoes that ravaged parts of the state by giving out thousands in aid, according to Spencer Jenkins, the groups’ founder and executive director.
Jenkins initially told the Blade that Queer Kentucky’s effort was able to give 25 LGBTQ+ people affected by the storms around $300, most of whom were Black, brown or Indigenous.
“They are usually the most marginalized within our own community, so we were very grateful to be able to do that for them,” he said. “There were a lot of trans people that needed assistance, a lot of nonbinary people. So, I mean, we were able to impact the marginalized of the marginalized.”
However, Jenkins wishes he could do more. “Unfortunately, we only had $7,000. And we wanted to be able to give $300 each, so that they can actually do something with the money,” he said. “$100 is great, but I’ve kind of always been on the thought that $300 is a super impactful amount to give to someone.”
Since then, Queer Kentucky has raised additional funds:
https://twitter.com/QueerKentucky/status/1472418128797839360
The tornadoes tore through Western Kentucky – and parts of Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas. One of the twisters, originating in Arkansas and ending in Kentucky, spun for over 200 miles.
According to a press release, at least 75 people have died from the storms in Kentucky, with 16 people still missing and about 3,280 without power.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) described the event as one of “the worst tornado events” in state history.
But the actual effect that the extreme weather had on the LGBTQ community will likely never be known because states generally do not collect that demographic data in times like this.
Though Jenkins didn’t have any specific numbers, he thinks that the tornadoes have left many queer people – at least 100, he estimates – in Kentucky with almost nothing. He came to this conclusion because of how many people reached out to his group in need of assistance.
President Joe Biden traveled to Kentucky to survey the damage and announce that the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of emergency work for the first 30 days after storms.
“You know, the scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief … These tornadoes devoured everything in their path,” Biden said at a press conference in Dawson Springs, Kentucky – one of the hardest-hit areas.
