🗣‘Casual homophobia, biphobia and transphobia… It can happen through reaching out to generic organisations, local authorities – and, really, just the world.’
‘Casual homophobia, biphobia and transphobia… It can happen through reaching out to generic organisations, local authorities – and, really, just the world.’
‘Whereas now, introducing some quite big social issues such as homelessness, you realise there are a lot of problems young LGBTQ+ people face when they try to access the help and support they need.’ And given a study from the LGBT Foundation reported 71.5% of people accessing its domestic abuse service had not thought about seeking support before, it’s fair to assume such statistics show no sign of dropping.
However, after being physically attacked by one member who had bullied him over his sexuality, he packed a bag and walked out of their home at 4am in the morning. ‘She said she caught me on video doing it but I wasn’t – it was someone else staying in the block of flats. Without much warning and after just seven weeks of living there, she formally applied to kick me out and despite my protests, I had to leave.’
‘The current system is failing young LGBTQ+ people, and to ensure we end homelessness for all of them, LGBTQ+ accommodation projects, housing advice and support services must be levelled up across the country, so they can find safe, affordable housing.’ But as Jotepeet Bhandal – campaigns, policy and research lead at akt – explains, the heteronormative practices of a number of services can have far greater consequences, discouraging young LGBTQ+ people from ‘coming out’ to services, and even prevent them seeking support at all.
‘There’s a tendency to say the issue is around individual disclosure. It’s not about forcing people to say what their sexual orientation and gender identity is, but it’s looking at what organisations are doing to create those safe and inclusive environments that make young people feel able to disclose that information if they feel it’s appropriate.
‘The reason it’s important to know what causes homelessness among this group is it’ll help you support LGBTQ+ young people better,’ she explains. With a background in mental health services and supporting homeless populations in both the UK and US, Monica says while the reasons for homelessness are inherent, factors such as familial rejection and other types of abuse tend to increase in the LGBTQ+ young people she supports.
‘I supported them to access a free chest binder through an organisation called Point of Pride and helped coordinate care with other services to get them the multi-agency support they needed. ‘Just talking and laughing with Angela from the services team made me feel so much better because she completely understood and empathised with what I was going through,’ remembers Ryan, who now volunteers for the charity. ‘She helped come up with actual solutions to my problems, which was an unbelievable help to me.
Half of young people surveyed as part of the charity’s LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Report feared expressing their identity to family members would lead to them being evicted, with just 13% feeling supported by their family once homeless. At the height of the pandemic, akt saw an 118% increase in the number of new referrals to its services between April and August 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
‘I know for myself, and my colleagues on the health team, we saw a massive increase in terms of the young people that were being referred to us, says Monica. ‘My waiting list skyrocketed from where it was pre-pandemic. ‘I can only imagine the mental health issues associated with having to suppress such a large part of your identity in order to fit into a family, and then having the additional barriers of not being supported or loved.
In a survey of 161 LGBTQ+ young people threatened with homelessness between July 2020 and January 2021, only 33% felt safe to disclose their sexual orientation and gender identity when asked by service providers.
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