Today is the start of Pride Month, and for this occasion we want to highlight LGBTQ+ experience of Temporary Accommodation (TA). People identifying as LGBTQ+ have a higher rate of experiencing homelessness. Research from Stonewall shows that almost one in five people who identify as LGBTQ+ have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, and the challenges they face can be unique.
Through our work, we see that TA can bring extra fears for LGBTQ+ people. Some people arrive after rejection, abuse or family breakdown linked to their sexuality or gender identity. Others have lived with homophobia, biphobia or transphobia for years before they ever enter the homelessness system.
By the time they are given a room, they may already have learned to hide parts of themselves to stay safe. That proves particularly difficult when effective support is built on trust.
The first night
“It was a very traumatic experience, as a gay person I just felt even more vulnerable”
LGBTQ+ person with experience of TA
In TA, people are placed in a building they do not know, with people they have never met, often far from friends, services and community. And they may have little privacy or know who they can trust in communal spaces.
For an LGBTQ+ person, this can present a particular fear: can I be myself here?
That question can affect how someone speaks, what they wear, who they mention and whether they feel able to ask for help. For trans and non binary people, even small moments can feel exposing. A wrong name on a letter, a form that does not fit, a shared space where they feel watched, or a worker who gets their pronouns wrong.
When repeated these can add up to a feeling of not being able to be yourself.
“It just feels like you’re not there really because you’re just putting on such a completely alien persona that the person you really are is not there, like you’ve been erased”
LGBTQ+ person with experience of TA
The feeling of being unsafe is not unfounded. To live openly as an LGBTQ+ in TA is to be at higher than average risk of physical and emotional abuse. We know of a Housing Officer who advised a trans client against TA, as they knew it to be a transphobic environment.
Unique health needs
Life in Temporary Accommodation can also make health harder to manage. People are moved, important posts go missing, and appointments are missed. Medication becomes harder to keep on top of.
For LGBTQ+ people, there may be specific health needs that sit outside of what homelessness staff see on a daily basis. Some people may need sexual health support, HIV services, PrEP or PEP which is a drug used to prevent HIV prevention. Trans people may be managing transition related healthcare, including appointments, medication and long waits. This will all be compromised when people are placed out of area, away from health and support services.
Our Health Engagement Team exists to bridge the difficult gap people in TA face when receiving treatment.
The importance of support when trauma follows you
Most people in Temporary Accommodation are carrying trauma of some kind. For LGBTQ+ people, this is often linked to identity. It may come from violence, family rejection, bullying, hate crime, abuse or years of being made to feel ashamed.
“I lost everything back home because of my sexuality”
LGBTQ+ person with experience of TA
Temporary Accommodation can bring this closer to the surface, and sometimes the abuse continues there. In such environments it is not surprising that people have learned that being open creates more risk.
This is why support has to be patient. It cannot only ask what housing someone needs; it must be trauma informed, notice what is making life harder and help people access the right support when they are ready. That might include specialist counselling, linking someone with LGBTQ+ services where they do not have to explain every part of themselves.
That’s why our floating support model works well. The challenges of homelessness are unique for everyone and the support they receive must adapt.
There is no single LGBTQ+ experience of Temporary Accommodation. Good support starts with respect, using the chosen pronouns and making no assumptions about partners, family or identity. It is essential to listen and build trust.
“Building relationships is absolutely essential. Frontline work, if someone doesn't like you, if someone doesn't trust you, if someone won't talk to you, you can't do anything”
Frontline worker
At Justlife, we walk alongside people living in Temporary Accommodation. We help people navigate housing, health and support systems that are often hard to manage alone. For LGBTQ+ people, that means recognising the specific barriers they may face, without reducing them to those experiences.
Temporary Accommodation should be short, safe and healthy. No one should have to hide who they are to get through it.
