With June in full swing, we wanted to celebrate Pride Month by recognizing the impact that the Crypto industry has had on the LGBTQ+ community.
Many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community struggle with financial inclusion, equality, and independence, and though many steps have been taken over the years to change these issues, there are still many challenges that the community still faces on a regular basis. However, with the help of the crypto and blockchain industries, some of these economic and social barriers are slowly being washed away. For many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community, they have been able to use crypto and blockchain to help their community.
Crypto is removing barriers to financial inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community
Reduced income, employment, a lack of housing, and access to financial products and services based on descrimination all factor into a reduced quality of life for minority groups. This is often due to technology, geographical, or regulatory policies that reduce the ease of or hinder access to financial products and services. Crypto and blockchain technologies are trying to change all that, providing solutions to these challenges — enhancing financial accessibility for the unprotected and underserved communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, without requiring users to reveal private information, such as sexual orientation.
According to a recent survey conducted, which polled roughly 2,000 Americans who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, members of the LGBTQ+ community are less likely to use most financial products — for example, retirement accounts or mortgages — than the rest of the U.S. population. However, there is one financial product that is more widely used and accepted in the LGBTQ+ community when compared to the rest of the U.S. population: cryptocurrency wallets. 36% of the poll’s respondents said they have a cryptocurrency wallet, roughly double the percentage of the rest of the U.S. population.
The blockchain is Helping the LGBTQ+ community improve preventative healthcare
Emerging technologies like crypto and blockchain networks play an essential role in giving the LGBTQ+ community a voice against violence and protection from discrimination. They have also been used to help with preventative healthcare.
In 2019, the LGBT Foundation announced an initiative to put HIV tests on the blockchain. The LGBT Foundation, “a not-for-profit organization with the mission to create the LGBT Token cryptocurrency and utilize blockchain technology to achieve equal rights and acceptance for all members of the LGBT+ community worldwide”, created the initiative to help prevent the spread of HIV.
According to the LGBT Foundation, “among those living with or at risk of HIV, marginalized populations and young people are often least likely to obtain life-saving prevention and treatment services.” With a program to put HIV self-tests on the blockchain, the foundation wanted to stress the importance of getting tested for the virus while also being proactive in preventative healthcare measures.
Though the LGBT Foundation had trouble getting the initiative off the ground, the project did succeed in establishing several clear cases of how blockchain technology can be deployed in the real world to increase healthcare for at-risk LGBT people. By using cryptocurrencies and blockchain’s distributed ledger technology to address these challenges, robust HIV tests can be sold, using a cryptocurrency, while also ensuring privacy for the buyer.
The blockchain is helping the LGBTQ+ community gain access to spousal benefits
There are many countries that don’t recognize same-sex marriages. Unfortunately, this could adversely impact individuals from spousal or familial benefits that are often available to married couples. The Famiee Project is hoping to change all that.
Through a simple blockchain technology-based service that issues same-sex partners a certificate, Famiee has created a way for same-sex couples to have many of these important spousal and familial benefits. This certificate unlocks access to a network of large corporations and providers, such as insurance companies, banks, and hospitals. The practical benefits couples gain from obtaining a recognized proof of marriage can have a material impact on the lives, and finances, of LGBT partners.
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