Celebrating Pride

I recently attended the Inside Housing Conference Housing 2024 at Manchester Central , it was a vast conference over 3 days with an estimated 9,000 attendees and 500 speakers and lots of opportunity to network and meet up with many from across Housing Associations.

One of the sessions I attended was held at the Fringe Festival stage 'Removing barriers to accessing homes and services for people at greater risk of homelessness'.

The speakers included Steven McIntyre CEO Of Stonewall Housing , Olivia Campbell-Cavendish , A Human Rights and Civil Liberties Lawyer and House of Stonewall Ambassador, Maame Esi D. Yankah , a lived experience speaker and Crisis Venture Studio entrepreneur, and the session was chaired by Victoria McDonald , Homes for Cathy lead and Social Impact Manager for HIGHTOWN HOUSING ASSOCIATION LIMITED .

The session was too explore the lived experiences around homelessness and explore the underlying issues and the role that legacy discrimination has to play within ethnically diverse, LGBTQ+ and other communities.

Whilst this session was not purely centred on the LGBTQ_ community, I was struck by some of the statistics and stories I heard from Steven and Olivia.

• How simple and small things can help to make someone feel safe, even just having the pride flag present helps them know you have 'got them', they are 'ok here' and the fact that most people fall over the pronunciation of LBGTQ+.
• How many LBGTQ+ couples do not feel safe enough in our country to hold hands.
• How 1 in 5 LBGTQ+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
• How one in four black, Asian and minority ethnic LGBTQ+ people accessing social services in the last year have been discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, or gender identity

As June unfolds, so does Pride Month—a vibrant and vital celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. This month not only honours the identities, achievements, and contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals but also serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges they face. Reflecting on the insights gained from the Inside Housing Conference earlier this week, it’s clear that while progress has been made, there is still much work to be done in fostering true inclusivity not just in housing and resident policies but in our business communities and as employers as well.

One of the key takeaways was the importance of creating inclusive policies that protect LGBTQ+ communities. Best practices shared included developing training programs for staff to understand and address the needs of LGBTQ+, and implementing zero-tolerance policies for discrimination.

The little things that we can do, made me think and made me want to write this post so I can be more of an ally to those in my life and networks.

As we have spoken about when discussing the gender imbalance previously, the roles of allies and allyship plays a crucial role in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and creating supportive environments. I will continue to educate myself and understand how I can do better.

Let’s use this month as an opportunity to renew our commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring that we create environments where everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, can thrive. I invite you to join this dialogue, share your experiences, and continue supporting the LGBTQ+ community beyond June.

I am Celebrating Pride.