The Vision Project

NO ONE LEFT
BEHIND
TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN LGBT
COMMUNITIES
WRITTEN BY JOSH BRADLOW
Josh is Policy Manager of Stonewall, Europe’s largest LGBT rights
organisation.
This year’s Pride month comes at a
critical point in our journey towards
lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT)
equality...
In recent decades, we’ve made significant progress
in many areas. Equal marriage is now a reality for
many. Same-sex couples can adopt, and LGBT role
models are more visible than ever on our screens,
in our newspapers and in our workplaces
But while progress has been made, we know
that many LGBT people still face harassment,
discrimination and prejudice simply for being
themselves.
The biphobic and homophobic attack against
two women on a London bus earlier this month is
a stark reminder that we cannot be complacent
in the fight for equality. Trans communities also
continue to face a relentless onslaught of antitrans
coverage in the media and online. We know
that our work cannot stop until every LGBT person
is accepted for who they are, wherever they live,
learn, work, play sport and pray.
Stonewall is Britain’s largest organisation
campaigning for LGBT equality. Through our
state-of-the-nation LGBT in Britain research series
with YouGov, we know that many LGBT people
continue to face multiple barriers to participating
fully in our society. Nowhere is this clearer than
in our research into LGBT people’s experiences of
homelessness, and poor mental health.
Having a safe and stable home is crucial for all
of us. But nearly one in five LGBT people have
experienced homelessness at some point in their
lives – with trans people, LGBT disabled people and
socio-economically disadvantaged LGBT people at
particular risk.
The situation is particularly tough for many LGBT
young people. Research by the Albert Kennedy
Trust, who work to support homeless LGBT young
people, estimates that a quarter of the youth
homeless population is LGBT. Of those, the
majority had experienced familial rejection, abuse
and violence. And when accessing homelessness
support services, many respondents said that
providers often lack understanding of their
specific needs – which can lead to discriminatory
treatment.
It is essential that homelessness services monitor
the sexual orientation and gender identity of their
service users to ensure they can understand the
needs and experiences of LGBT homeless people.
It’s also vital that all staff receive training on
meeting the needs of LGBT service users.
At the same time, growing up in a society that still
doesn’t fully accept LGBT people – from bullying at
school, to workplace discrimination, to harassment
on the street -can also have a profound impact on
many LGBT people’s health and wellbeing.
Rates of poor mental health are incredibly high
within the LGBT community. Stonewall’s School
Report (2017), with the University of Cambridge
looked into the experiences of over 3,700 LGBT
people and found that nearly half of trans young
people have tried to take their own life, as have
one in five lesbian, gay and bi young people who
aren’t trans. Within this group, LGBT young people
who are disabled, or who are eligible for free school
meals, are at particular risk.
Among adults, our LGBT in Britain series found
that half of LGBT people said they’d experienced
depression in the last year – with Black, Asian and
minority ethnic LGBT people, trans people and
LGBT disabled people experiencing particularly
high rates of poor mental health.
While a growing number of mental health services
are meeting the needs of LGBT people, many
LGBT people continue to face barriers to accessing
support, with experiences of discrimination
remaining commonplace. For these services too,
monitoring sexual orientation and gender identity,
and providing staff with high-quality training on
LGBT inclusion, is essential in meeting the needs of
the community.
But while the challenges are great, we know that
there are growing efforts to address them. As part
of the Government’s 2018 LGBT Action Plan, new
research is being undertaken into the needs and
experiences of LGBT homeless people – research
that will be essential in helping us to understand
how national and local Government can help meet
these needs.
And through our Diversity Champions programme,
we now work with over 50 national and local
health and social care organisations across the
country, including mental health services, to help
them provide inclusive support to LGBT patients
and service users.
But we need to do more. We need to reach deeper
into our communities. We need to provide better
support on the ground to the most vulnerable
people in our communities. And we need to tackle
these challenges at their root, too, to ensure that
every young person is supported to reach their full
potential.
Pride is a time for celebration. But it’s also a time
to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how much
further we have to go. Now is the time for us
to come together, to renew our efforts to bring
forward the day when true equality for LGBT
people is a reality.
Our work will not be done
until every single LGBT person,
everywhere, is free to be
themselves.
DEVELOPING HEALTH & INDEPENDENCE
35