Report Shows LGBTQ+ People More Likely To Be Homeless

LGBTQ+ people in Britain are more likely to experience homelessness than their heterosexual peers, according to a new report published by the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

As Gay Times write, younger members of the community are more likely to enter foster or residential care and those with experience of this are at a higher risk of facing homelessness.

Another cause for unstable accommodation is facing mental health challenges as these are associated with adverse economic outcomes.

The Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness, Dr. Ligia Teixeira, said: “Young people who feel uncomfortable to be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity may leave their family home before they might otherwise have done so or be forced to leave. Accessing homelessness services may also present additional challenges or complexities for people who identify as LGBTQ+ meaning they are less likely to receive timely or appropriate support.”

The report, Sexuality, gender identity and homelessness, acknowledges that much progress has been made in terms of equality and highlights a number of areas where issues still need to be addressed. But it also makes recommendations to policy makers in order to fully understand the challenges in combating homelessness.

These include measures such as leveraging existing evidence to support LGBTQ+ people, using research to understand how to reduce discrimination among professionals, and improving the data available on the issue.

“Much relevant data of patterns of homelessness among LGBTQ+ people is incomplete or, at best, partial,” Dr. Teixeira continued. “People who identify as LGBTQ+ are a large and important group for whom we can act now to test the effectiveness of innovative interventions to establish which have the most impact in reducing the risk and shortening the experience of homelessness.”

You can read the report in full here.

Read related myGwork articles here:

One In Six Homeless LGBT+ Youth Have Been Sexually Abused By Family Members, Damning Report Finds

How You Can Support LGBT+ Homeless People

Salvation Army attempts to make up for past homophobia by opening LGBT+ homeless shelter

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