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.
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.
Mental health challenges were also found to be associated with adverse economic outcomes which can in turn lead to issues with having stable accommodation.
Dr Ligia Teixeira, Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness, 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.”
Titled ‘Sexuality, gender identity and homelessness’, the report acknowledges how much progress has been made in terms of equality and highlights a number of areas where issues still need to be addressed.
There are many reasons why people who identify as #LGBTQ+ may be at greater risk of homelessness than others. Our latest report looks at sexuality, gender identity & #homelessness, and reveals where the research into interventions to help is lacking:https://t.co/CH4oaeTy2Z pic.twitter.com/j7Lxzx0v9r
— Centre for Homelessness Impact (@homelessimpact) September 29, 2022
It suggests a number of recommendations to policy makers in order to fully understand the challenges in combating homelessness for good.
These include 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.
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