This LGBTQ+ Grad Fights the System — and Her Student Loan Debt

At 24, Nicole Brennan can’t afford an apartment because of her student loan debt. Having come from a low-income household, she could not pay any college costs upfront. She graduated with around $170,000 in student debt.

To chip away at her debt, Brennan makes and sells art and promotes her work on TikTok. Her art centers on LGBTQ+ experiences, often featuring commentary on human rights issues. Ironically, the oppressive systems she calls out in her art also prevent her from getting work.

“My queer identity sometimes acts as an obstacle when it comes to sharing my work online and connecting with potential clients/buyers,” she said. “My student loan bill still needs to be paid each month, so by me losing potential work due to my ‘controversial’ identity…I would say my queerness has impacted my ability to pay for school in that aspect.”

LGBTQ+ adults face financial challenges that cisgender heterosexual (cishet) peers don’t. In 2019, the Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research reported that LGBTQ+ adults had lower, more unpredictable incomes and were more likely to struggle to get by financially.

Read on to learn about the financial challenges Brennan and other LGBTQ+ Americans face after graduation, and how LGBTQ+ grads can build wealth despite the odds.

Brennan graduated in a pre-vaccine pandemic when unemployment was steep. Her college canceled its networking events. She applied to 20+ jobs without hearing back. None of her classmates seemed to be getting jobs either.

The pandemic’s financial hardships were worse for LGBTQ+ adults. The Census Bureau found that they lost employment during the pandemic more often than cishet peers. They were almost twice as likely as cishet adults to report food insecurity.

According to The Williams Institute, even outside of a pandemic, LGBTQ+ adults face extra obstacles, like housing and income disparities. This impacts their ability to afford college or pay student loans.

Daniella Flores, queer financial blogger and founder of I Like to Dabble, said LGBTQ+ folks face financial challenges in every facet of life. Flores side-hustled their way out of $40,000 in debt. Now they coach others and blog about money matters.

Flores said income disparity data just scratches the surface of the money issues LGBTQ+ people face.

“When not only your quality of life is threatened, but also your safety and basic human rights are threatened, you go into survival mode,” Flores said, referencing today’s record amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. “It is difficult to focus on building wealth and visualizing a life where you thrive and are actually free.”

“Although the majority of my interactions with people online are generally positive and supportive, I do frequently run into those who, for some reason, are determined to see queer people fail,” Brennan said.

Brennan mainly uses social media to connect with potential clients. TikTok, like other social media sites, has work to do to protect LGBTQ+ users.

“My TikTok page… has been reported by homophobic users en masse on multiple occasions…usually disguising the motivation behind their reports under the ‘harassment and bullying’ flag,” Brennan said. “This has only ever happened to the content I’ve posted where I discuss queer issues.”

When TikTok sides with the reporting user, the app temporarily bans Brennan from posting, preventing her from promoting her art. She said the app also places “shadowbans,” where some of her followers’ accounts automatically unfollow her. Those users aren’t alerted that it’s happened or why.

“When these things happen, it becomes a much bigger challenge to market my work and reach new people, sometimes leading to a temporary dip in online shop sales and [a] pause in people requesting illustration commissions,” Brennan said.

Unfortunately, Brennan’s not alone in her experiences. And social media’s not the only culprit.

“Trans folks have the hardest time getting and keeping jobs, even with the newest laws being passed where workplace discrimination against LGBTQ+ folks is now federally illegal,” Flores added. “Money trauma runs deep in the LGBTQ+ community, but it is a complicated trauma when the society you grow up in only seeks to erase you.”

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