Food Insecurity and Reliance on SNAP Among LGBT Adults

Executive Summary

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest anti-hunger program in the United States, supporting over 42 million people each month.1 The current Budget Reconciliation Bill, H.R. 1, would make significant changes to SNAP, causing an estimated seven million people to either lose their SNAP benefits or have their benefits substantially cut. In this brief, we analyze pooled data from the 2021 and 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to show the degree to which LGBT adults experience food insecurity and rely on SNAP benefits, as well as the potential impact on LGBT adults of expanded work requirements for SNAP benefits.

Key Findings

LGBT adults were more likely than non-LGBT adults to experience food insecurity and to rely on SNAP.

• 18% of LGBT adults experienced food insecurity in the past year, compared to 14% of non- LGBT adults.
• 15% of LGBT adults relied on SNAP benefits in the past year, compared to 11% of non-LGBT adults. This difference is largely due to higher rates of poverty and disability among LGBT adults as compared to non-LGBT adults. Almost seven in 10 LGBT adults who received SNAP benefits had household incomes under $35,000, two-thirds were living with a disability, and nearly half had a child under 18 living in the household.
  • Almost seven in 10 LGBT adults who received SNAP benefits had household incomes under $35,000, two-thirds were living with a disability, and nearly half had a child under 18 living in the household.

Nearly 2.1 million LGBT adults rely on SNAP. This includes approximately:

• 1.3 million LGBT adults living with a disability
• 1.3 million lesbian and bisexual women
• 900,000 LGBT adults who have children under 18 in their household
• 500,000 cisgender gay and bisexual men
• 250,000 transgender adults

Expanding work requirements will create additional barriers to applying for and maintaining SNAP benefits for LGBT adults, many of whom were already working, in school, or were unable to work.

• Over 90% of LGBT adults who received SNAP benefits (91%) were either currently working (42%), had worked in the past year (6%), were students (8%), homemakers (9%), retired (5%), or were unable to work (21%).
• The remaining were LGBT adults who reported that they had not worked in the past year (8%).2

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