How ISHA is celebrating Pride

What is Pride month? 

June is Pride Month, an annual celebration all about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. 

Why does it matter? 

Pride month celebrates the progress that has been made across legislation, attitudes, and behaviours towards the LGBTQ+ community; but it is also a continued protest. 

More than 1.5 million LGBTQ+ people live in the UK, and hate crimes against the community have risen drastically in the past few years.   

Research into LGBTQ+ experiences in the housing sector are also a cause for concern for us.  

Data from charitable organisations like Stonewall and Shelter report that: 

• Gay and lesbian people are twice as likely as heterosexuals to be discriminated against when looking for a home. 
• 60% of trans people feel their neighbourhood is an unsafe place to live. 
• A third of people surveyed felt their housing provider was not able to deal effectively with issues like harassment. 

We want all our residents to feel safe and able to be completely themselves in their homes and in their neighbourhood, and we want to make sure we deliver services that reflect that. 

What we’re doing to support Pride 

Staff recently completed a training course provided by MindOut, the LGBTQ mental health service, to help us improve our practice when encountering LGBTQ+ residents and especially those who also have mental health issues.  

This was made available to some staff, but we want to roll it out further to give all colleagues the opportunity to learn about offering LGBTQ+ community sensitive services to those who may need it.  

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