Finding Pride: Moving Beyond the Rainbow in Youth Homelessness Services

Theo Butler and Rhianon Vichta-Ohlsen, Brisbane Youth Service

More than half of young people who identify as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual report compromised or below average living conditions. For Gender Diverse young people this increases to 71 per cent. LGBTIQ+ young people are twice as likely to experience homelessness compared with their heterosexual cis gendered peers, and 33 per cent of queer youth choose not to engage with crisis support centres due to anticipated discrimination.

It is clear that LGBTQI+ pride representation, service inclusiveness and safety are critically necessary priorities for youth homelessness services. However, while many services attempt to do this through the use of visible or overt symbols of inclusiveness such as rainbow lanyards, slogan stickers, pride focused celebration events and inclusive language in social media and print resources, it is worth considering that in order for these strategies to be experienced as inclusive, LGBTQI+ individuals must first have fostered a sense of pride in their identity.