Yahoo News Here are the areas where LGBT people still suffer inequality in the UK
Half a century on from the Stonewall Riots that sowed the seeds of Gay Pride, life is somewhat different for the LGBT community.
But as we mark Pride 50 years on, are there still areas where LGBT+ people suffer inequality in the UK.
From the workplace to health, LGBT rights charity Stonewall has published a series of reports on LGBT people's experiences of discrimination and public attitudes towards LGBT equality.
Here, Yahoo News UK looks at the different areas where life is still difficult if you’re a member of the LGBT community.
The workplace
According to Stonewall’s 2018 report, nearly one in five LGBT staff (18%) have been the target of negative comments or conduct from work colleagues in the previous year because they were LGBT.
One in eight trans people (12%) had been physically attacked by customers or colleagues in the previous year because of being trans, the report found.
It also found that one in five LGBT people (18%) who were looking for work said they were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity while trying to get a job.
Almost two in five bi people (38%) aren’t out to anyone at work about their sexual orientation, it found, while 35% of LGBT staff had hidden or disguised that they are LGBT at work in the last year because they were afraid of discrimination.
The report also revealed that nearly a third of non-binary people (31%) and one in five trans people (18%) don’t feel able to wear work attire representing their gender expression.
Writing in the report, Stonewall chief executive Ruth Hunt said: “Our findings reveal that many LGBT staff don’t feel comfortable enough to disclose their identity at work, and often those who do are subject to discrimination and abuse, with incidents ranging from offensive language from customers to being outed at work without their consent.”
Healthcare
Stonewall’s 2018 report focusing on health revealed that one in eight LGBT people (13%) had experienced some form of unequal treatment from healthcare staff because they’re LGBT.
Nearly one in four (23%) LGBT people had witnessed discriminatory or negative remarks against LGBT people by healthcare staff.
One in seven (14%) had avoided treatment for fear of discrimination because they're LGBT, while one in 20 had been pressured to access services to question or change their sexual orientation when accessing healthcare services.
The research also found that one in five LGBT people weren’t out to any healthcare professional about their sexual orientation when seeking general medical care - rising to 40% of bi men and 29% of bi women.
In the report, one respondent Elijah, 19, told Stonewall: “I got sectioned after a suicide attempt and the nurse said that my mental health problems were due to allowing Satan in my soul. If I just accepted my true gender then God could forgive me.”
University
Stonewall’s University report, also published in 2018, found that more than a third of trans students (36%) and 7% of lesbian, gay and bi students who aren't trans faced negative comments or conduct from university staff in the previous year because they were LGBT.
The report, which was based on YouGov research with 522 LGBT university students, revealed that 7% of trans students were physically attacked by another student or a member of university staff in the previous year because of being trans.
One student said they were walking to the university library when a group of people started shouting: “Oh look at this dyke” and “You look like a man… wait, is that the point, you tranny?”
More than two in five LGBT students (42%) hid or disguised that they were LGBT at university because they were afraid of discrimination, while one in five trans students (20%) were encouraged by university staff to hide or disguise that they were trans.
A quarter of non-binary students (24%) and one in six trans students (16%) said they didn’t feel able to wear clothes representing their gender expression at university, while one in six trans students reported being unable to use the toilet they feel comfortable with at university.
One student told Stonewall that their university email system would not use their preferred name unless they changed it by deed poll while another student said at university people refused to refer to them with the proper pronouns because they didn’t ‘see me as a woman’.
At home or in the community
Stonewall’s Home and Communities report revealed what it described as “persistent challenges” for LGBT people when it comes to feeling comfortable being open about their sexual orientation or gender identity with their friends and family.
It found that only half of lesbian, gay and bi people (46%) and trans people (47%) feel able to be open about their sexual orientation and/or gender identity to their whole family, while a third of bi people (32%) said they couldn’t be open about their sexual orientation with anyone in their family.
More than a third of trans people (36%), one in eight LGBT disabled people whose activities are ‘limited a lot’ (13%), and one in five LGBT people of non-Christian faith (21%) said they had experienced discrimination from within the community because of different parts of their identities.
The situation is worse for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) LGBT people, the report found, with 51% facing discrimination within the LGBT community.
Stonewall chief executive Ruth Hunt wrote in the report: “It’s unacceptable and inexcusable that such discrimination exists in a community so often celebrated – not least by itself - for its diversity and tolerance.
“But, shocking though these findings are, they also present a huge opportunity - if we’re willing to take it.
“This is a wake-up call to reach out. To listen and learn from each other. To ensure that the wealth of different identities within the LGBT community is not only fully represented but truly celebrated.
“We’ll be a richer, stronger, happier LGBT community when it includes us all. We’re in this together.”
