State embarks on ‘most comprehensive’ survey of LGBTQ+ Minnesotans in 30 years

NINA MOINI: Well, one of the state's newest agencies is trying to learn more about the needs of queer people in Minnesota. Lawmakers created the Council on LGBTQIA2S+ Minnesotans in 2023. That's the same year they passed the Trans Refuge law, making the state a destination for people fleeing bans on gender-affirming care and discrimination in other states.

Now, through the end of May, the council is conducting a survey to guide its work in the future. Executive Director Emma Watts joins me now in the studio to talk all about it. Thanks for being here.

EMMA WATTS: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Well, for starters, I want to talk about this survey. We hear a lot about surveys. Oh, they're going to do a survey. But really, this is going to be a very in-depth examination. Correct? Tell me a little bit about it.

EMMA WATTS: Yeah, absolutely. It's an incredibly comprehensive survey and one that has been needed for the last 30 years in Minnesota, since the last time we comprehensively studied our communities. This survey asks you about health, wellness, education, housing, and so much more. And insights from the survey will be used to develop our council's agenda and to make recommendations for state leaders on how to make sure LGBTQ people in Minnesota feel safe and supported.

NINA MOINI: And how will you get the word out. How can you ensure that as many people as possible are able to participate?

EMMA WATTS: Yeah. We have a incredibly comprehensive paid advertising program and are investing heavily in community engagement and partnerships with community organizations. So by the end of this survey, we will have partnered with about 40 LGBTQ+ serving organizations to support the promotion of this survey.

We are also advertising in a variety of ways-- physical advertisements, online advertisements, social media, and so much more. It's a big push. And we want to make sure that we're reaching everybody that deserves to be heard.

NINA MOINI: What is the response from people when you say that you're doing this survey? And like you mentioned, it's been about 30 years or so since there was this much intention placed on it.

EMMA WATTS: We've had great reception, both from community members and community leaders and organizations. People feel excited to participate in something like this, especially now as visibility is increasingly important. People want to tell their stories and get involved.

We've heard concerns about safety and data security. And so we've made sure that we've taken precautions to protect people's confidentiality. And once folks know that and know how we're doing that, they feel a lot better about taking this survey and are very excited to tell their story.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned some of the questions. But I wondered if you could talk a little bit more about the different areas of life that it encompasses and why you felt that that was important to touch on all of those.

EMMA WATTS: Yeah. We know that LGBTQ people are in every corner of the state, every cultural and demographic group. And every single issue touches LGBTQ people. So it was important to us to make sure that this survey was comprehensive and getting us an updated look on how LGBTQ people are experiencing violence, mental health disparities, how they're getting access to mental health care or addiction services or gender-affirming care.

So looking at prevalence of issues but also some causes of these issues. And what are the barriers that people are experiencing for addressing the challenges that they have? So it's kind of doing all of that and more.

NINA MOINI: So when it's completed-- end of May. Then I'm assuming there has to be some poring over the data that's been collected. Where does it go? What's the ultimate goal to use this survey?

EMMA WATTS: Yeah. It'll take a while to analyze the data. And we'll be working over the course of a couple of months to do that. But we see this data as community data. So it's our intention to share this out broadly and widely and make sure that people are able to use this data to better their programs and better serve LGBTQ people. So not just our agency or even state leaders. We want this to be impactful for other community organizations.

But insights from this survey will do several things. We expect it to tell us what else we need to study. Oftentimes, research just leads to more research. So that will be one part of this. We also expect it to tell us where to direct funding the most and what kind of policy and administrative changes are needed at the state level to make sure that, again, LGBTQ people feel safe and supported here.

NINA MOINI: The Trump administration has also cut some federal funding to various programs that might make it more difficult to study certain groups of people and certain individuals. What is it about this time? Did it just happen that it was this time that this survey is going out? And are you hoping to fill some of that need that is maybe even going to be greater now?

EMMA WATTS: Right. So this survey was needed before January and it's even more so after January. The cuts to federal funding programs that support LGBTQ people, that conduct research and collect data on our communities are alarming and will have extensive consequences on our communities. We know that this information and this work is needed for LGBTQ people to thrive and survive across the country.

So this data is visibility. This data is visibility in a time when that's needed more than ever. We need to hear the stories of LGBTQ people today because we know that the needs are not static. They're ever evolving.

We know that the increasing pressures are causing additional challenges on our communities. So the last couple of months have made it even more clear that this type of survey is needed and will reveal some really extreme pressures that our communities are facing.

NINA MOINI: And with many groups of people that I've interviewed, they'll say, if you don't have the data to present to, for example, lawmakers or other stakeholders that can take action and provide funding and write laws, it kind of starts with data, it sounds like, because it puts a face to the issue. And it helps to actually have that physical survey to be able to give. Lawmakers, as I'm sure you know, are working on the budget right now at the state capitol. And so your agency actually started with a budget of about $1 million over 2 years. Governor Tim Walz wants to continue to fund that for at least the next two years. Is that correct? Do you feel confident in that. And then what would that mean to be able to keep going?

EMMA WATTS: Yeah. I feel confident that we'll be alive and well in fiscal year '26 and beyond. Our budget is currently being worked out as we speak. We'll learn a lot more, I think, over the next few weeks about what our budget conditions look like in the coming years. But I feel confident we'll be around. We've had pretty good support. I've had great conversations with both parties in the state. So feeling good that we'll be here in July.

NINA MOINI: And would you remind us again how and who can access the survey?

EMMA WATTS: So the survey is available for LGBTQIA2S+ people who are 18 and older. But also parents of LGBTQ youth can take the survey. It's the same link. It's mnqt.info/survey. And you'll answer a couple questions in the beginning that will determine which survey path you go down, whether or not you're going down the parent path or the individual path. And if you are both, an LGBTQ person who also has youth who are LGBTQ people, you can take the survey multiple times to tell those stories.

NINA MOINI: And we'll make sure that information is on our website as well. I do want to check in on, since we did mention it earlier in the segment, the Trans Refuge law here in the state of Minnesota. That's been on the books now for a while. Does your department-- or maybe through this survey, do you intend to study that and the results of that and what that's meant for the state?

EMMA WATTS: Our survey will definitely tell us how many folks who are taking the survey have moved to Minnesota in the last six months, one year, two years. We won't be able to compare that to previous years. Before the Trans Refuge Law, we don't have that data. But we know that number will be really helpful. And in some of the initial data that we've received, we're hearing from those folks, which is really important. It's important to hear from folks who've lived here for 40 years and people who've lived here for two years. So we're excited to see those numbers and see the impact that it's had on Minnesota.

NINA MOINI: All right. Emma, thank you so much for coming by and telling us about this. Really appreciate it.

EMMA WATTS: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: That's Emma Watts, executive director of the state's Council on LGBTQIA2S+ Minnesotans.