After 17 years at Howe Street in Edinburgh, we are on the move

LGBT Health and Wellbeing is relocating its Edinburgh-based team to Duncan Place, a newly refurbished community space in Leith. Not only will this provide the office space we need, but crucially it will also give us the use of a number of accessible multi-purpose community spaces to deliver our groups and events. We are really excited to be moving to this beautiful historical building, run on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of the community.

As some of you may recall, LGBT Health and Wellbeing started its life in Howe Street back in 2003, at a time when being located close to the gay commercial scene felt important for an LGBT organisation. We have however over the years started to outgrow this New Town base, and have felt for some time now that it is no longer able to adequately support our efforts to meet the needs of all of our diverse community and the requirements of our organisation.

However without a doubt many of us have really happy memories of ‘The Centre’ in Howe Street. It has over the years not only housed our staff team, but importantly hosted a diverse range of vital support services, fabulous events and valued community groups, and providing a welcoming and affirmative safe haven for many members of our community. We would have liked to celebrate this, and in some way mark the end of our association with Howe Street, but lockdown means our departure will by necessity be somewhat low key, with little opportunity for fond farewells in person.

We are however now definitely ready to relocate and will be looking to bring our usual energy, vibrancy and creativity to our new home in Duncan Place. We are really excited about this new chapter in the organisation’s history and very much look forward to welcoming you to this new Leith Community Hub in due course.

Please note that due to the ongoing situation around COVID-19, we will not be able to open our new space for use until it is safe to do so. We will keep communicating updates about our move to you in our newsletters and social media so follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our Board of Directors stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. We understand that the death of George Floyd is not an isolated incident. There exists in the U.S. a long history of systemic racism, ethnically charged policing and evidence of police brutality. We are inspired by the global support behind the movement that has emerged in the past few weeks. We know Scotland is not exempt and that we have work to do in eradicating racism while acknowledging our racist history.

The fight against oppression has historically been intersectional, with groups across race, class, gender and sexuality showing up to support one another. Notably, Black trans women and sex workers who initiated the Stonewall riots back in 1969 and paved the way for many of the rights we celebrate today.  The LGBTQ+ community has much to thank Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) for and we take this opportunity during Pride month to say thank you.

The Board has seen LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s staff and community members react quickly to organise and mobilise with events such as Queers in support of Black Lives Matter with the highest engagement seen on one of our Facebook events on this online event page.  As we have seen throughout this Covid19 crisis, it is clear that our community is looking out for each other.

As a Board, we are not representative of the population we represent, and we recognise our responsibilities to do better; including within our upcoming Board recruitment strategy to attempt to expand the diversity of our Board Members. Whilst we are keen to welcome and diversify our Board, we recognise that, in any event, we have an individual and collective responsibility to educate ourselves and facilitate learning within our community. We must be explicit about our stance on anti-racism. This is not the individual responsibility of any one member. Collectively we must use our platform within the LGBT+ community to make structural change. This is a responsibility that White and White-passing people are required to take on and challenge that we, as a Board of Directors, welcome.

LGBT Health and Wellbeing
Board of Trustees

A lot of Pride events over the summer have been postponed or won’t be happening the same way (cheering all together down the street) but we will be doing our best to bring our community together.

This where our annual Pride Breakfast comes in. For those who are familiar with us, you will know that we usually organise a Pride Breakfast in Edinburgh and Glasgow during Pride for folks to meet fellow Priders and find a group to march with. We can’t exactly do this this year but we are bringing our Pride Breakfast online on Zoom. We will release more information shortly so watch this space.

For now we would like to invite you to join our Virtual Pride March, a video of LGBTQ+ people across Scotland celebrating Pride.

How? Film a 10 to 15 seconds video of yourself or something that reminds you of Pride. It could be a message you want to share with your community for Pride or anything that makes you proud. You don’t have to be in the video, make it as safe and comfortable for you. Get your creative hat on!

Here you will find LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s latest updates about our services under the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find the latest official directives on the Scottish Government’s website. 

We are aware that on 18^th April all COVID rules and restrictions were lifted in Scotland.  However, we are also aware that the virus has not gone away. The Scottish Government is now promoting the use of “COVID sense” to inform how best to protect people.  With that in mind, we are continuing to ensure that we take ongoing organisational mitigations and measures.

Our offices and services

Our staff team are continuing to work some of their time from our new offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as from our homes.

We are continuing to plan and deliver a mix of online and in-person events and support.

We uphold a safe space policy for both online and in-person events:

• Read our safe space commitment for online events
• Read our safe space commitment for in-person events

Please continue to primarily connect with our team via email (all our staff can be reached via their work emails: name@lgbthealth.org.uk).

We also have a central phone line 0131 564 3970 which is checked regularly by our Administrator. Do leave a message and this will be directed to the most appropriate person.

Keeping up to date

We would encourage you to browse our entire programme of events on our What’s On calendar and you can also keep up to date with all upcoming events by signing up to our newsletter Village Voices or following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Individual support

You can access a range of one-to-one support with our staff. This can be delivered via Zoom, phone call, email, or in-person at our offices in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Please note we are currently not offering any drop-in services – this is to help us manage the number of people at our offices. If you contact one of the team below they will be happy to arrange an appointment at a time that suits you.

• Mental health support
  📧 diane@lgbthealth.org.uk (Edinburgh and Lothian)
  📧 louise.nind@lgbthealth.org.uk (Greater Glasgow)
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• Trans support
  📧 katrina@lgbthealth.org.uk (Greater Glasgow)
  📧 LTSP@lgbthealth.org.uk (Edinburgh and Lothian)
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• Asylum seekers and refugees support
  📧 stella@lgbthealth.org.uk (Greater Glasgow)
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Telefriending service for older LGBT+ people (50+)

A free telefriending service for LGBT+ people over 50 in Scotland who are isolated. One of our telefrienders will call you at regular intervals during the lockdown for a social call where you can check-in, catch-up, talk about how you are feeling or share a laugh. To use the service, fill in the referral form and send it back to tele@lgbthealth.org.uk or phone 0131 564 3972 and leave a message so we can get back to you.

LGBT Helpline Scotland

LGBT Helpline Scotland continues to be there to support our community through the pandemic. For anyone who is struggling or would appreciate a friendly ear – please give us a call, email or reach out to us for a chat. We are open every Tuesday & Wednesday (12-9pm) and Thursday & Sunday (1-6pm).

📞 Phone: 0300 123 2523
📧 Email: helpline@lgbthealth.org.uk
💬 Livechat on our website during opening hours

Equality organisations welcome Scottish Government draft bill to reform the Gender Recognition Act

Leading LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex) organisations in Scotland have welcomed the Scottish Government’s draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, published today. The draft bill is out for public consultation until 17 March 2020.

According to Scottish Trans Alliance, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall Scotland and LGBT Health and Wellbeing, the draft bill is a step in the right direction towards greater equality for transgender people in Scotland.

The Scottish Government previously ran a four month consultation in 2018 on how the Gender Recognition Act, which dates from 2004, could be improved. They received over 15,500 consultation responses. Two-thirds (65%) of Scottish respondents agreed with the proposed reform to a statutory declaration system.

The Scottish Government draft bill aims to simplify how transgender people change the sex on their birth certificates. The key changes are to:

• Move to a system whereby a trans person makes a formal legal statutory declaration confirming the sex in which they have been living for at least 3 months and their intention to continue to do so for the rest of their life.
• Introduce a 3 month ‘reflection’ period before a gender recognition certificate would be issued, meaning a trans person will have had to live in that sex for over 6 months before being able to change their birth certificate.
• Remove the current requirement to provide a demeaning psychiatric report containing intrusive details such as what toys trans people played with as children, their sexual relationships and how distressed they were before transitioning.
• Remove the current requirement to provide an invasive medical report describing any hormonal or surgical treatment they are planning or have undergone, or confirming they do not intend to undergo such treatment.
• Allow 16 and 17 year olds to apply for a gender recognition certificate.

Passports, driving licences, medical records and employment records are already changed by self-declaration when a person starts transitioning. The gender recognition process to change a trans person’s sex on their birth certificate will remain more difficult than changing their sex on other identity documents.

James Morton, Scottish Trans Alliance Manager, said:

“We welcome the Scottish Government’s publication of their draft bill to reform the Gender Recognition Act. The current process to change the sex on a trans person’s birth certificate is a humiliating, offensive and expensive red-tape nightmare which requires them to submit intrusive psychiatric evidence to a faceless tribunal panel years after they transitioned.

 “What’s written on a trans person’s birth certificate is not the deciding factor for their access to single-sex services or sports competitions. The reasons trans people change the sex on their birth certificate are so that they no longer have the worry of being ‘outed’ by that last piece of paperwork not matching their other ID, and to be sure that, when they die, nobody can erase their hard-won identity and right to be recorded as themselves.

 “We are very pleased that the draft bill is based on statutory declaration not psychiatric evidence and that it reduces the age for application from 18 to 16. However, we are disappointed that the Scottish Government has chosen not to include under 16s or non-binary trans people in the draft bill. We urge the Scottish Government to expand the bill so that all trans people can have equal inclusion and acceptance within Scottish society.”  

During the recent UK election campaign, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was asked about reform of the Gender Recognition Act and replied:

“The reform of the Gender Recognition Act is about making the process of legally changing gender less intrusive, less bureaucratic and less traumatic for trans people. It doesn’t change the situation of single sex or women’s only spaces, that is governed by the Equality Act, which we are not proposing to change. You don’t need a gender recognition certificate to access women only spaces right now.

 “I am a supporter of trans rights, I’m a supporter of women’s rights and I think it is incumbent on people like me to demonstrate that those things aren’t and needn’t be in tension and in competition. I am a lifelong feminist. I would not be proposing or arguing for something that I thought would be ‘trampling women’s rights’.”

[BBC Radio 5 Live (2 Dec 2019): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cqdy at timestamp 33:30]

Dr Mhairi Crawford, Chief Executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, said:

“LGBT Youth Scotland welcomes today’s announcement and are pleased that transgender young people over 16 are included in the draft bill.

 “We support the proposed changes to enable 16 and 17 year olds to change their legal paperwork to align with their gender identity, recognising trans young people’s right to privacy and to be protected from discrimination. In Scotland, 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to vote, leave school, get married and have children. They can already change the sex on their passports and education records. It makes little sense to deny them the protections that updating their birth certificate affords them.

 “We share young people’s disappointment that there is no inclusion of non-binary people in this draft bill and no process for under 16s who wish to obtain legal recognition of their gender. We do, however, recognise that progress takes time and regard today’s draft bill as a steppingstone to full legal recognition for trans people. LGBT Youth Scotland will strive to bring trans young people’s views and experiences to the fore during this consultation and we will work closely with our Youth Commission on gender recognition as we develop our organisational response.”

Dr Rebecca Crowther, Policy Coordinator at Equality Network, said:

“As a lesbian feminist woman, I know that trans rights are not in contradiction of, nor counter to, the fight for women’s rights and equality, of which I am part. Scotland’s national women’s organisations broadly support the reform of the Gender Recognition Act to a statutory declaration system. Now that the draft bill has been published, it is very clear that it does not make any changes to the Equality Act’s single-sex services provisions, so will have no effect on the way single-sex spaces can choose to operate.”

Sophie Bridger, Campaigns, Policy and Research Manager at Stonewall Scotland, said:

“Scotland has a proud history of being a progressive country and this Bill gives us the chance to help trans communities be recognised for who they are. Reforming the Gender Recognition Act to replace the current dehumanising, medicalised process with a process of statutory declaration would be life-changing for many trans people. However, we’d like to see the Bill go further to recognise non-binary identities, so every part of the trans community can benefit from the legislative change.

 “Trans people have suffered for too long from inequalities that can be easily removed. So we need everyone who cares about equality to ‘come out’ in support of reforming the Gender Recognition Act and respond to the government’s consultation on the draft Bill.”

Dr Rosie Tyler-Greig, Policy and Influencing Manager at LGBT Health & Wellbeing, said:

“LGBT Health and Wellbeing welcomes the draft bill and the opportunity for trans people and their organisations to re-affirm the importance of a more accessible and respectful gender recognition process. Improving the process will relieve a lot of stress for many trans people, who currently struggle to gather complicated evidence and medical reports just to be recognised as who they are. It is only right that at significant points in the life course, such as accessing pensions or getting married, trans people’s paperwork matches who they are – something the majority of us can take for granted. We remain disappointed that recognition for non-binary people is not included in the proposed changes and we urge Scottish Government to take positive steps towards ensuring everyone can be recognised for who they are.”

For further information, please contact James Morton, Scottish Trans Alliance Manager, on 07554 992626 or james@equality-network.org 

Quotes and photos from, and face-to-face and telephone interviews with, transgender individuals can be provided.

Notes to editors:

1. The Scottish Government draft Gender Recognition (Scotland) Bill can be found at: https://consult.gov.scot/family-law/gender-recognition-reform-scotland-bill/
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2. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows trans people to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate. However, the procedure is intrusive and humiliating, and is not available to people under 18 or to non-binary people. In their 2016 Holyrood manifestos, the SNP, Labour, the Greens and LibDems all committed to reforming the Gender Recognition Act, and the Tories committed to review it. The Scottish Government consulted publicly on proposals for reform, from November 2017 to March 2018 and two-thirds of the Scottish respondents supported reform to a statutory declaration system: https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0054/00540424.pdf and https://www.gov.scot/publications/review-gender-recognition-act-2004-analysis-responses-public-consultation-exercise-report/
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3. The national Scottish women’s organisations broadly support the reform of the Gender Recognition Act to a statutory declaration system. Their support statement can be found at: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/statement-in-support-of-the-equal-recognition-campaign-and-reform-of-the-gender-recognition/
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4. 23 governments already provide legal gender recognition through statutory declaration: Argentina (population 44 million), Belgium (11 million), 5 provinces in Canada (5.5 million), Colombia (49 million), Denmark (5.7 million), Ireland (4.7 million), Malta (0.5 million), Norway (5.2 million), Portugal (10 million), 2 regions in Spain (14 million), Uruguay (3.4 million) and 7 states in the USA (71 million).
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5. Gender recognition reform does not affect sport. Where necessary for fair and safe competition, sports governing bodies will continue to be able to restrict trans people’s participation regardless of whether they have received legal gender recognition.
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6. Gender recognition reform does not create any new rights for trans people to access single-sex services. For example, trans women have never been required to change the sex on their birth certificates in order to use women’s toilets, changing facilities or other women’s services. The Equality Act 2010 will continue to provide single-sex services with the ability to treat a trans person differently from other service users if that is a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim (such as ensuring adequate privacy). This Equality Act provision applies regardless of whether the trans person has received legal gender recognition.
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7. Gender recognition reform does not affect criminal justice. A trans person’s gender recognition history and previous identity details are permitted to be shared for the purpose of preventing or investigating crime. Receiving gender recognition does not prevent someone from being prosecuted or convicted for any criminal behaviour, nor does it enable them to hide any previous convictions.
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8. The Scottish Government’s statutory declaration system would still require a trans man or trans woman to be living permanently as a man or woman before they can receive legal gender recognition. It would remain more difficult for a trans person to change the sex on their birth certificate than it is for them to change the sex on their driving licence, medical records, passport, bank accounts and other identity documents. Making a fraudulent statutory declaration is a serious criminal offence of perjury and is punishable by imprisonment.
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9. Scottish Trans Alliance scottishtrans.org
   Scotland’s national transgender equality and human rights project and is based within the Equality Network, a national charity working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) equality and human rights in Scotland: www.equality-network.org
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10. LGBT Youth Scotland lgbtyouth.org.uk
    Scotland’s largest youth and community based organisation for LGBT young people. We regularly support professionals to meet the needs of gender non-conforming children under the age of 13 and work with a high number of transgender young people under the age of 16 within our services. We run youth groups across Scotland and two national participation projects, including the LGBT Youth Commission on Gender Recognition.
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11. Stonewall Scotland stonewallscotland.org.uk
    Campaign for equality and justice for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people living in Scotland. We work with businesses, the public sector, local authorities, the Scottish Government and Parliament and a range of partners to improve the lived experience of LGBT people in Scotland.
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12. LGBT Health and Wellbeing lgbthealth.org.uk
    Promotes the health, wellbeing and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in Scotland. We run the LGBT Helpline Scotland and provide a range of community projects, including specialist mental health services and trans-specific social and support programmes.

Our annual community survey is now live and waiting for your feedback.

Complete the survey

A survey for trans people, including non-binary people, to share experiences of work

We know all too well that barriers to finding and staying in work play an important part in trans inequality.  Current research points to serious issues with work such as discrimination, harassment and bullying. As a community organisation, we regularly hear about these issues. We are also aware there are lots of ideas about the positive changes we can make to increase equality at work, and we can make those changes happen.

We want to understand more about your experiences with work and what you think would make it a more inclusive place for trans people.  We are interested in a wide range of experiences and are keen to hear from trans people both in and out of work.

Your feedback will help us to understand the situation so we can raise awareness about your experiences and identify how we can support you to challenge work-related barriers and move towards equality.

The survey should only take around 10 minutes to complete.

Take the survey: www.tinyurl.com/transpeoplework

If you have any further comments you haven’t been able to get across in the survey, please get in touch with our Policy Manager Rosie Tyler-Greig:
email rosie@lgbthealth.org.uk  or call 0131 652 3285

We welcome that Scottish Government has reaffirmed its commitment to introducing a system of self-declaration for trans people as part of its reform of the Gender Recognition Act.   This will remove the intrusive requirements currently placed on trans people who wish to have their gender recognised on legal documents. We believe a system of self-declaration will reduce the distress many trans people currently experience when engaging in the gender recognition process. It will also rightly affirm trans women and trans men as experts in their own identities.

We are however deeply concerned about the negative impact on the health, wellbeing and rights of trans people which any delays and inactions in this process will create. In recent months we have witnessed a toxic public discourse which has challenged the fundamental rights of trans people to be themselves, to live in safety, and to access public spaces and key services.  Any delay to progressing GRA reform further increases the vulnerability of trans people. It opens space for prejudice and attack. It increases their isolation and risks widening the already stark health inequalities between trans people and the general population.

We are also deeply disappointed that Scottish Government has stated it will not provide legal recognition for non-binary people, but will instead establish a working group to look at ‘procedure and practice’ around non-binary identities.  In the 2018 consultation on GRA reform, a majority of respondents supported legal recognition for non-binary people. We will continue to support legal recognition for non-binary people, as well as their greater inclusion in society in general.

The GRA reform process has put the spotlight on trans people in an unprecedented way. We are acutely aware of the impact of the toxic public discourse on the lives of trans, including non-binary, people, as we witness and work to counter this on a daily basis within LGBT Health’s groups and support services. We call on the Scottish Government to recognise the health and wellbeing impact of the ongoing GRA process and to take meaningful measures to increase its support to trans people and to do everything in its power to protect and promote the resilience of the trans community at this very difficult time.

276 people who use LGBT Health and Wellbeing took the time to tell us what they thought about our services.

“The most powerful words of all: you are not alone. That’s an amazingly positive thing to experience when you’ve been hiding yourself away for most of your life”

“We have gained friendships as a whole family, which leads us to being better supported and feeling better about ourselves. Some of the friendships formed through LGBT Health and Wellbeing are true lifelines.”

“Thank you so much to everyone there – LGBT Health and Wellbeing is a real life-line for me and it has been vital to my healing process and it’s a real honour to witness other people on their journeys, too.”

We conducted our annual Service Evaluation again in late 2018 to find out more about who uses our services and what you think of them. The survey gave us lots of feedback which will be invaluable in further developing our services.

Here is a summary of what you told us:

“I’ve been so impressed by the range of services on offer and the incredible staff and volunteers who make it all happen. I can’t imagine what it’d be like without an organisation of this standard, accessible to all.”

“All the staff are wonderful. If this kind of service didn’t exist, it would be hard to know what to do or how to find other people going through similar experiences, struggles, overcoming sometimes in the same ways.”
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Key findings

 LGBT Health continues to engage with a really wide range of individuals of all ages who identify right across the LGBT spectrum – and beyond

• 90% of you rated our staff as excellent or very good
• 85% of you said that you found the quality of our services as excellent or very good
• 85% of you rated your overall experience of the organisation as excellent or very good
• 88% of you said you thought our volunteers were excellent or very good
  

What difference LGBT Health and Wellbeing has made for you

• 79% of you are more confident in seeking support
• 77% of you reported that you feel better about yourselves
• 73% of you feel more connected to your community as a result of using our services
• 76% of you report feeling less lonely
• 68% of you feel more aware of services
• 66% report that you have better mental and emotional health 

What you enjoy and value

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“Thank you so much for the amazing work you’re doing. You’ve made a huge positive
impact on my life and I’ll never be able to fully express how grateful I am for it.”

“Its existence is really important and plays an important role in the community
and all the staff are wonderful people who care deeply and are very welcoming.”

• Social interaction
• Sense of community and community support
• Welcoming and accepting environment
• Wide range of information and support
• Improved wellbeing and self- awareness

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Your suggestions for improvements and our response

Range of events and services

• There were many suggestions for the range of events and services you think we should be offering. We will continue to refer to these suggestions as we plan our programme over the coming year

Access and inclusion

• We are continuing to look at the ways in which we can engage with you to ensure that our information and services are is readily available and accessible
• We are committed to ensuring our services are inclusive and responsive to needs.
  The service evaluation allows us to continue to monitor our reach into the community and how we need to adapt.

Publicity and promotion

• In late 2014 we launched our new website and since 2016 we have continued to revamp our quarterly programme as well reviewing where this is distributed. In 2018 we started to review our range of publicity tools and we have now completed work on our communication strategy. This will inform our going forward in 2019

You provided a wealth of specific suggestions for new or repeat activities, which we will certainly refer to as we plan our programme over the coming year.

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What you can do for us

Do keep giving us your feedback so we can ensure that we deliver the services that our communities need.

Also, the survey showed that many of you hear about us by word of mouth, which means that you can really help us to reach others by spreading the word.

Many thanks to all of you who responded, your feedback is invaluable to us.

To Cllr. Rhiannon Spear (Chair of TIE Campaign),

We would like to thank you and your co-signatories for your recent open letter, published in The Herald on Sunday 3^rd March, in support of the rights of trans people, and particularly trans women. We wholeheartedly support and welcome the points you made. As the largest service provider for LGBT+ adults in Scotland, we wish to ensure that LGBT Health and Wellbeing is represented on the list of signatories to the letter.

Recently, we have become increasingly concerned about the circulation of views which have created the false impression that the rights of trans people are a topic for debate. We want to make it very clear that the current rights of trans people are not in question. Trans people have significant rights that are backed by Scottish and international law. And organisations like ours are working every day to promote the proper realisation of those rights in practice.

Your letter noted where our legal and political framework enshrines trans rights, and pointed out that reportage has too often failed to make this clear. Awareness of rights and the ability to claim them in practice is fundamental to everyone’s health and wellbeing. With trans people facing health – and particularly mental health – challenges disproportionately, we would therefore like to reiterate that trans people have rights and protections to live as themselves, free from discrimination. These are specifically noted in, for example, the Equality Act 2010, the Gender Recognition Act (2004), The Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009; as well as in European Union law such as the EU Social Charter.

At LGBT Health and Wellbeing, the work we deliver through our Transgender Support Programme is built around the existence of the rights, protections and support available to trans people, who are 40% of our service users. We support our trans community to access what is available to them, and we work to build the capacity of our allies and stakeholders to do the same.

If trans rights are not the question, what is? The question that has been asked in the public sphere, and which has the potential to impact trans people’s rights, is how our legal and political framework can align itself with best practice in relation to gender recognition law. The Scottish Government made a commitment in its Fairer Scotland strategy to review and reform gender recognition law and bring it in line with international best practice. In light of this, consultation questions were asked as part of a democratic policy-making process. We have been encouraged by the responses to this consultation, which have suggested overall public support for a process of self-identification, such as is already in operation in Ireland. The consequence of this would be to remove some of the intrusiveness and bureaucracy which needlessly causes trans people who wish to receive gender recognition great distress.  Based on feedback from the Scottish Government consultation, we remain optimistic that this process will improve and trans rights will be progressed in reality.

Unfortunately, the promise of legal and political progress is not always reflected in social attitudes. We regularly hear from our trans community about the devastating impact of transphobia and discrimination on their lives. 58% – a clear majority – of trans people accessing our services report a mental health condition. More broadly, the mental health status of our trans community continues to be of significant concern.  88% of this community have experienced depression and 35% have attempted suicide.  Attitudes in society play no small part in this very serious situation. For this reason, we wholeheartedly support your statement that:

“outlets and commentators have an ethical responsibility to consider the impact of their reportage, analysis and commentary, particularly on the mental health of trans young people … [because] trans people continue to face unlawful discrimination and violence … [and] routine misinformation and sensationalism is contributing to a cultural climate where this is legitimised. This has to stop.”

Narratives which undermine the status of trans rights are not only spreading misinformation, but are doing so with real consequence. We would like to remind our trans community that the narratives which rely on misinformation and sensationalism are not the whole story. We urge them to keep in mind the steady progress that is also happening more quietly, and to do what they can to keep themselves well.

In saying this, we would like to remind our trans and nonbinary community of the support that is available to them at this time and always.  At LGBT Health and Wellbeing, our door is open, our phone and online support are ready, and the spaces we hold daily in the community are welcoming. Our community will always be heard, affirmed and supported. We would like our trans community to know that their allies in Scotland’s diverse LGBT+ community are too many to count. And that we are proud that the support within our community is shared too by our feminist allies from across our many equalities organisations, our government and our local councils. We sincerely hope that when our trans and nonbinary community members look around at what is happening, they see all of us standing next to them and know that we are their fierce advocates.

In solidarity,

Maruska Greenwood
CEO, LGBT Health and Wellbeing

Rosie Tyler-Greig
Policy Manager, LGBT Health and Wellbeing

Our national LGBT Helpline Scotland is delighted to announce the launch of a pilot online chat box service. The 6-month pilot for LGBT adults, their families and supporters across Scotland, will run until the end of October 2018.

Despite positive steps in regards to equality legislation and public attitudes, many LGBT people throughout Scotland can still feel isolated. People contact the helpline seeking emotional support or information on a range of topics including sexual health, hate crime, coming out, housing, difficulties with relationships and mental health issues. We have a trained, non-judgmental and friendly team of staff and volunteers to respond to anyone getting in touch.

Stephen McCabe (Helpline Coordinator) explains that:

The new service is available weekly on a Tuesday from 3-9pm by visiting our website at: www.lgbthealth.org.uk

294 people who use LGBT Health took the time to tell us what they thought about our services

“I feel able to dream and envisage my life as a parent, and feel genuinely happy to know there is support and a community for us and our children. Growing up I didn’t have this real sense of potential and fulfilment as a queer woman”

“A sense of community and acceptance/validation, friendships with peers, information and help to progress with transition and improve my mental health, and invaluable support from staff without which I might not still be here”

“I’ve gained so much, my life was undergoing massive change when I first contacted the centre, and they helped me through every step. I was able to come out to my whole family, they helped me through my separation from my opposite sex partner and helped me find resources and activities which have connected me with the community. It’s been a massive help in my life”

We conducted our annual Service Evaluation again in late 2017 to find out more about who uses our services and what you think of them. The survey gave us lots of feedback which will be invaluable in further developing our services. Here is a summary of what you told us:

Key findings

“The staff I meet at events are full of genuine care, spirit and energy, and their friendliness is felt by everyone I see. It shows that your staff and volunteers are dedicated and as a community member I hope that we can keep them. Such a valuable resource.”

“You are incredibly important to many people on so many intricate and interconnected levels that all work together to benefit individuals, the LGBT+ community and society at large. You are essential and awesome”

LGBT Health is engaging with a really wide range of individuals of all ages who identify right across the LGBT spectrum – and beyond

• 92% of you rated our staff as excellent or very good
• 83% of you said that you found the quality of our services as excellent or very good
• 82% of you rated your overall experience of the organisation as excellent or very good

What difference LGBT Health has made for you

• 80% of you are more confident in seeking support (up from 75% in 2016)
• 78% of you reported that you feel better about yourselves (up from 69%)
• 75% of you feel more aware of services (up from 67%)
• 74% of you report feeling less lonely (up from 69%)
• 69 % of you feel more connected to your community as a result of using our services
• 67% report that you have better mental and emotional health (up from 58%)

What you enjoy and value

“I’ve gained a wealth of community support, much more connection to the community, individual support access to resources.”

“A fantastic increase in the connection with the community around me. A huge increase in confidence about not only myself but around and with other people.”

• Social interaction
• Sense of community and community support
• Welcoming and accepting environment
• Wide range of information and support
• Improved wellbeing and self- awareness

Your suggestions for improvements and our response

“Continue to provide the excellent service that you do. It was an absolute god send to me when I found out about the range of activities available to me, I am 55 and finally feel part of my community, knowing that you are their makes me feel at ease if I ever needed any help, I know if will be given with compassion and confidentiality. Thank you so much.”

“Continue reaching out to those less aware of you services.”

Access and inclusion

• We will continue to communicate with you in a range of ways, ensuring that information about what we do is readily available
• We will continue to look at accessibility of our services and events
• We are committed to ensuring our services are inclusive and responsive to needs. The service evaluation allows us to continue to monitor our reach into the community

Publicity and promotion

• In late 2014 we launched our new website and in 2016 we revamped our quarterly programme. In 2017 we reviewed our range of publicity tools and started work on our social media and communication strategy which will continue into 2018.

Range of delivery

• We will use the feedback from this survey to develop our quarterly programme of events to ensure it remains varied for the whole community.

You also provided a wealth of suggestions for new or repeat activities, which we will certainly refer to as we plan our programme over the coming year.

What you can do for us 

Firstly do keep giving us your feedback, so we can ensure we deliver the services our communities need!  Also, the survey showed that many of you hear about us by word of mouth, which means that you can really help us to reach others by spreading the word.

Many thanks to all of you who responded

Your feedback is invaluable to us!

Our 2017 annual survey is now live
and waiting for your feedback.

Each year, we ask everyone who accessed our services (no matter how long or often) to give us their comments on our programme of services, events and groups. This is your chance to let us know what we did well and what we could improve on, including opportunities to suggest future events or groups you’d like to see happen, how to improve our accessibility and many more.

It is also a time for you to reflect on the impact our services had on you. We love to hear about personal journeys and how far you have come. This helps us tailor our services to your needs the best we can. It also helps us collect evidence of needs and gaps to feedback to our funders so we can demonstrate that our services are vital to our local community.

The survey is a vital tool to the organisation and we would really appreciate if you could spare some of your time to complete it. And as a thank you, we want to give you the chance to enter our prize draw and maybe win a £40 voucher of your choice.

To complete the survey, visit the link:
www.bit.ly/LGBTsurvey2017

Deadline: Tuesday 19th December 2017

Thank you for your help.

A drive to improve mental health services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people has begun today with the launch of a new guide by the Mental Welfare Commission.

The guide, which was co-produced with LGBT Health and Wellbeing, has been launched in a bid to increase awareness of LGBT rights amongst mental health professionals, and help health and social care services to deliver more person-centred care and support.

It aims to address inequalities in the support and treatment of LGBT people across Scotland’s mental health services, and features a number of recommendations for making services more accessible and LGBT-friendly. Copies will be sent out to all psychiatric wards in Scotland, as well as primary care and community services.

Dr Gary Morrison, Executive Director (Medical) at the Mental Welfare Commission said:

 “We are excited to announce the publication of our new guide on LGBT inclusion in mental health services.

“LGBT people experience higher rates of mental disorder and are much more likely to think about suicide or self-harming. They are also more likely to have negative experiences when accessing mental health services.

“We hope that by producing this guidance we can help eliminate discrimination against LGBT people in mental health services, and equip health and social care professionals with the information they need to provide the best possible care and support.”

Maruska Greenwood, Chief Executive at LGBT Health and Wellbeing, said:

“We were delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Commission on this guide. Through our work with LGBT people we know the tremendous positive difference it makes to individuals to be able to engage with service providers who do not make assumptions, judge or stigmatise them because of their minority sexual orientation or gender identity. We hope this guide will reach new audiences with the important message that acceptance and inclusion are key to supporting LGBT people experiencing poor mental health.”

Catherine Somerville, Campaigns, Policy and Research Manager at Stonewall Scotland, also supported the launch of the guide:

“It is really positive to see the Mental Welfare Commission putting in place this much needed guidance to support mental health professionals to better meet the needs of their LGBT patients. Our research suggests that half of mental health workers, including counsellors, psychologists and psychotherapists do not recognise the relevance of sexual orientation to someone’s health needs (Unhealthy Attitudes, 2015). This guidance is an important step forward to make sure that LGBT people can access mental health services with confidence.”

The document is available here.

Note to Editors

The rate of suicidal ideation and self-harm for LGBT people is 20-25%, compared with 2.4% for the general population.

Jamie Wilson  0131 313 8782

235 people who use LGBT Health took the time to tell us what they thought about our services

 “A fantastic increase in the connection with the community around me. A huge increase in confidence about not only myself but around and with other people.”

 “Better mental health, feel more supported, more in touch with the LGBT community, and feel much less socially isolated.”

 “Without LGBT being in existence, I would have been so lonely and isolated in the world. Self-harming and feelings of suicide would be on my mind constantly.”

We conducted our annual Service Evaluation again in late 2016 to find out more about who uses our services and what you think of them.

The survey, completed by 235 respondents, gave us lots of feedback which will be invaluable in further developing our services. Here is a summary of what you told us:

Key findings

 “This is the best organisation I have ever been supported by. With the hardest working and most talented and committed staff”

• LGBT Health is engaging with a really wide range of individuals of all ages
  who identify right across the LGBT spectrum – and beyond
• 91% of you rated our staff as excellent or very good
• 81% of you said that you found the quality of our services as excellent or very good
• 79% of you rated your overall experience of the organisation as excellent or very

What difference LGBT Health has made for you

 “Meeting people who one can be totally at ease with. Going to things in a group that one would not otherwise attend or could not get to.”

• 75% of you are more confident in seeking support
• 69% of you reported that you feel better about yourselves
• 67% of you feel more aware of services
• 64% of you feel more connected to your community as a result of using our services
• 58% report that you have better mental and emotional health

What you enjoy and value

 “I’ve gained a wealth of community support, much more connection to the community, individual support access to resources.”

“A fantastic increase in the connection with the community around me. A huge increase in confidence about not only myself but around and with other people.”

• Social interaction
• Sense of community and community support
• Welcoming and accepting environment
• Wide range of information and support
• Improved wellbeing and self- awareness

Your suggestions for improvements
and our response

 “I’d like to see more information on services on Facebook as it’s a great way of notifying/reminding people. I have seen a great improvement recently, keep on doing that.”

• Access and inclusion
  • We will continue to communicate with you in a range of ways, ensuring that information about what we do is readily available
  • We will continue to look at accessibility of our services and events
  •  We are committed to ensuring our services are inclusive and responsive to needs. The service evaluation allows us to continue to monitor our reach into the community
• Publicity and promotion
  • In late 2014 we launched our new website and in 2016 we revamped our quarterly programme. We will continue to review our range of publicity tools during 2017
  • We will continue to develop our programme of events to ensure it remains varied

You also provided a wealth of suggestions for new or repeat activities, which we will certainly be referring to as we plan our programme over the coming year.

What you can do for us

Firstly do keep giving us your feedback, so we can ensure we deliver the services our communities need!

Also, the survey showed that many of you hear about us by word of mouth, which means that you can really help us to reach others by spreading the word.

Many thanks to all of you who responded. Your feedback really is invaluable to us!