Northwest Commission to Hear Findings on LGBTQ Wildfire Recovery Needs

The Northwest Commission is scheduled to receive a presentation Tuesday on the impact of the Los Angeles wildfires on LGBTQ communities, including findings from a multi-year community study that documents displacement, insurance gaps and discrimination experienced by survivors in Altadena and surrounding areas.

The presentation, titled “The Impact of the Los Angeles Fires on LGBTQ Communities: Ensuring an Inclusive Recovery,” is being delivered by Nic Arnzen, president of Altadena Pride. Although the Commission’s role is strictly advisory and the Pasadena City Council retains final authority over any city action that might follow, the briefing is expected to introduce a slate of policy recommendations the Commission could consider forwarding to the Council and to other local agencies.

According to the presentation, the underlying study was prompted by prior research by the Williams Institute and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, by accounts of LGBTQ+ survivors in the media and seeking mutual aid, and by recognition that federal recovery services would be challenging for LGBTQ+ residents to access. Key partners listed in the presentation include Altadena Libraries, Altadena Pride, Bienestar Human Services, the California Department of Insurance, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the LA County Recovery, Health and Social Services Vulnerable Populations Subcommittee, the LA County LGBTQ+ Commission, Pasadena Village, the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center, the TransLatin@ Coalition and the Williams Institute.

The presentation is structured around three components: a Rapid Needs Assessment conducted in spring 2025 informed by the LACHS and LELAC study, two rounds of listening sessions held in May 2025 and September 2025, and a set of recommendations and next steps for 2026. According to the slides, 9% of survey respondents from the Eaton Fire-impacted area identified as LGBTQ+, while 72% identified as non-LGBTQ+, 16% refused to answer, and 4% did not know. The deck states that almost three-fourths of LGBTQ+ respondents had their homes damaged by fires or wind and that more than 40% can no longer live in those homes — with 29% reporting their home was damaged but still livable, 24% reporting it was damaged and they could not live there, and 20% reporting their home was completely destroyed.

The slides further state that LGBTQ+ respondents were less likely to own their homes, more likely to rent, less likely to have insurance for their homes and belongings, and more likely to need help with tenant rights issues or landlord disagreements. In a slide on disaster relief access, 51% of LGBTQ+ respondents reported feeling overwhelmed by too much information, 33% had a hard time knowing what information to trust, 33% applied for disaster relief but were told they did not qualify, 32% did not know what services were available, 23% did not know how to apply or who to contact, 17% found the application process too complicated and 13% reported being uncomfortable giving personal information on applications. Friends, family members and community groups were the most helpful sources of support, cited by 71%, 63% and 44% of LGBTQ+ respondents, respectively, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency and city of residence programs were cited by 13% and 12%.

The listening sessions drew 52 participants across 11 groups in May 2025 and 27 participants across six groups in September 2025, conducted in both English and Spanish and held both in person and online, according to the deck. Participants reported that disaster recovery created prolonged psychological and emotional disruption and that recovery systems were inaccessible, fragmented and retraumatizing. The presentation states that displacement fractured LGBTQ+ social networks and cultural safety, that survivors faced discrimination and competence gaps from service providers, and that recovery systems prioritized homeowners while sidelining renters and low-income residents — including reports of renters being turned away from disaster resource centers even when experiencing total losses. The slides also note that long-term displacement raised fears of gentrification and erasure of LGBTQ communities in Altadena, with concerns increasing between the May and September sessions.

The deck spotlights community-led efforts as a key source of support, with mutual aid networks, LGBTQ+ specific community groups and informal digital tools — including Facebook and WhatsApp groups and the “LA Mutual Aid” Google spreadsheet — credited with helping survivors coordinate housing, donations, supplies and aid information. Recommendations presented in the deck are organized into three timeframes. Before a disaster strikes, the study calls for documenting the existing network of governmental, nongovernmental and community-led supports, improving ethnic and cultural competency and inclusivity in governmental recovery services, and ensuring systems to prohibit and address discrimination based on protected characteristics, including LGBTQ identity, race, ethnicity, language and ability status. During a disaster, the study recommends swiftly forming accessible, safe and trustworthy public resource hubs and developing community-focused spaces specifically for LGBTQ+ gathering, mourning, healing and care. After a disaster, the recommendations call for intentionally inviting LGBTQ individuals and the community into formal decision-making and planning processes for rebuilding, and prioritizing the ability for former residents to return.

If the Commission ultimately recommends action based on the findings, any binding city response would require approval by the Pasadena City Council, which retains final authority over Pasadena’s policy and budget decisions.

The Northwest Commission is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, at the Jackie Robinson Community Center, 1020 North Fair Oaks Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.