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The Bold Way Tegan And Sara Are Supporting LGTBQ Women And Girls

The Bold Way Tegan And Sara Are Supporting LGTBQ Women And Girls
Robin Marchant via Getty Images
Robin Marchant via Getty Images

Indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara launched the Tegan and Sara Foundation this week, where they hope to support “economic justice, health, and representation,” for women and girls in the LGTBQ community.

The twin sisters, who have been openly gay for the entirety of their careers, said that they want to repay the community that has supported them tirelessly.

“Since the beginning of our career, our LGBTQ fans have supported us in innumerable ways,” they wrote in a letter on the foundation’s website. “Your personal histories of injustice and discrimination at home, school, work, and church have inspired us to use our public status to speak out about the struggles of the LGBTQ community.”

The Grammy-nominated duo acknowledged the many intersections within the LGTBQ community of women, and acknowledged that on the precipice of a Trump-Pence administration it’s the women at the center of these intersections who need support now more than ever:

LGBTQ women are experiencing disproportionately high levels of poverty, health issues and inequality. LGBTQ women of color, especially transgender women often experience these issues even more severely due to racism and transphobia. Today, given the state of politics in the United States, we must continue to unite and fight for our rights and against all forms of oppression.

Tegan and Sara are absolutely right when it comes to the “disproportionately high levels of poverty, health issues and inequality” that LGBTQ women face. As the foundation’s website points out, 30 percent of bisexual women live in poverty, as do 23 percent of lesbian women. And compared to the general population, trans women are four times more likely to have an annual income of $10,000 or less according to a 2015 study by the Center for American Progress.

The Tegan and Sara Foundation also wants to increase visibility of LGTBQ women to reduce the stigma around the community, and pointed out the severe lack of representation of queer women in pop culture.

Thanks for fighting the good fight, ladies.