LGBTQ Speak Out

Healthwatch Brighton & Hove worked with ru-ok? to get the views of LGBTQ young people on how they could access their services.  This resulted in them designing a toolkit for service managers, social workers, frontline workers in services working with young people.

Data and records for LGBTQ young people will often reveal they are in a process of coming out and understanding their sexuality and mental, emotional and physical identity.  Being exposed as LGBTQ can be extremely risky and can lead to bullying and abuse. This is why young LGBTQ people want to stay in control of who knows what.  They need to know why services need data, where it is recorded, who will have access to it and how it will be used.

Knowing that an organisation is LGBTQ friendly doesn‘t mean that everything is perfect - but it goes a very long way to build trust. Being able to be in an environment where professionals are openly and sometimes obviously queer will make a big difference to making LGBTQ young people feeling safe. For people who are not, they need training from people with lived experience.  Pronouns are an important part of how people express their identity and refer to themselves and others. Being regularly misgendered or deadnamed can have a huge impact on a young person’s mental health and  wellbeing. Organisations can help by putting up posters, wearing rainbow lanyards, asking about pronouns as standard and having LGBTQ staff.

94% of LGBTQ people were negatively impacted by experiences of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, acephobic and interphobic abuse and violence.  Services can help by actively calling out any homophobia or transphobia.

Feeling heard is important. When accessing services it is very important that a young LGBTQ person‘s identity is acknowledged. However, it may not be the main reason they want to access a service.

Living with family members who aren't supportive can cause a lot of emotional strain, stress, anxiety and potential trauma for young LGBTQ people. Believing in whatever impact this will have had will be important to gaining their trust.

Navigating a new gender identity or sexuality is a lot to process. Sometimes things can change in a short space of time. If a professional has noted or recorded data when starting work with a young person, it is important to check in regularly and ask if they are using the same pronouns or still identifying as LGBTQ.

It can be very common for LGBTQ young people to try to manage their emotions with the aid of substances. If a young person is using substances and trying to access mental health support, they can be required to stop using drugs before they can engage in therapy. As such, there is a danger that substance use could become a barrier to getting the help they need. Accessing mental health services isn‘t an easy step to take - and neither is talking to a stranger about using illegal substances. The idea of having to make an entirely new referral to another service is something that can also require emotional support.

Offering some support to young people accessing other services can make a huge positive impact.

For LQBTQ people to go out and find other people from the gay, lesbian, bi or trans community, the most likely way they will do this is through nightlife or places where substances and sex are prevalent - often together (chemsex). With this in mind, substance support and sex education needs to be able to understand LGBTQ circumstances. All of these can spill over into a way of coping with physical, social and emotional anxieties associated with being LGBTQ.

LGBTQ young people‘s experience of sex tends to be something no one teaches them about or prepares them for - potentially making it all the more confusing and complicated. As well as having to discover it for themselves, it is something that cis heterosexual people sometimes show little respect for - the reality that some people have sex differently to them. Schools and services should take these issues into account to provide LGBTQ sex education for all students.

More than ever, young LGBTQ people need education around the risks and the dangers as part of their sex education and safe spaces to talk about their online experiences.