Community and social engagement

LGBT people feel isolated

Published 11 April 2013

A new survey shows the majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people in East Sussex feel isolated and believe the government's austerity policies are hindering moves towards equality.

The LGBT Equalities in Hastings, Rother and East Sussex Forum's project involved giving questionnaires to LGBT people across the county. Project leader, Nick McGlynn, a PhD researcher in the University of Brighton's School of Environment and Technology, said the main aim was to promote positive changes: "The Forum hopes that this report will raise the profile of LGBT equality issues in the local area, and that it can be used to improve public services across East Sussex."

Key findings of the survey showed:

59 per cent of LGBT respondents (71 people) either sometimes or always felt isolated – this was linked to a lack of socialising opportunities with other LGBT outside Brighton and Hove.
Less than a quarter who experienced a hate crime or hate incident reported it. Many felt these were not important or that reporting would be a waste of time.
Public sector services were generally rated highly in terms of LGBT-friendliness, but significant numbers reported poor LGBT-friendliness or said they were unsure.
The vast majority of LGBT respondents were willing to give information about their sexual and/or gender identities for the purposes of monitoring, eg. on public sector information forms.
More than half believed that austerity policies would weaken local LGBT equality.

Julie Eason, chair of local LGBT group, Hastings and Rother Rainbow Alliance, said: "There has been a shortage of local research to understand the needs and concerns of the LGBT community, and this work adds significantly to the research base.

"We look forward to continuing to work the University of Brighton, and others, to ensure that the needs of the local LGBT community are understood and accounted for by policy makers and service providers."

The forum is made up of academics, activists, community groups, representatives of public services, students and interested individuals For more information on the survey, contact Nick McGlynn via email n.mcglynn2@brighton.ac.uk.