Nearly a third of trans Londoners feared losing their housing or accommodation in 2023, recently-released data shows.
The Trans Learning Partnership, a coalition of charities that works towards improving the lives of trans people and their families, found that 31% of trans people were worried about losing their housing or accommodation last year.
These figures came as part of a survey conducted in 2023 with 479 London-based trans and non-binary participants.
Lily, 26, who is trans, said: “I had to leave my family home at 18 when my parents made it clear that they didn’t agree with the way I wanted to define myself and transition to become a woman.
“Since then I’ve done a lot of different accommodations and in each one of them I get scared that I’ll one day get kicked out by an intolerant or close-minded landlord or landlady.
“It’s happened to me once about two years ago and it’s happened multiple times to some of my trans friends.
“It’s a type of pressure and injustice no-one should ever have to face.”
The Trans Learning Partnership found that many trans participants facing housing-relating pressures also did not have a family or support network to rely on, adding to the difficulty of providing guarantors for renting housing.
The survey also found that trans and non-binary Londoners face higher rates of inequality and deprivation than the average population including in access to healthcare.
LGBT+ charity Just Like Us CEO Laura Mackay said LGBT+ education can make a significant difference in how inclusive (young) people become and therefore be an effective tool in tackling the inequalities and violence the LGBT+ community faces.
She said: “In schools where staff push for inclusion and work well with young people you get a good sense that pupils are more inclusive than in places where there’s no LGBT+ education.
“In such schools they’re more likely to understand that being LGBT+ is something to be celebrated, something to be proud of, and that’s very important.”
Just Like Us provides primary and secondary school staff with LGBT+ inclusive, educational resources and advice to help them celebrate allyship and set up LGBT+/ally clubs for their pupils.
Charities such as London Friend, Mermaids, MindOut and Galop provide support for trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people and their families.
