Sexual Orientation and other Equality Strands 

Overview

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people have many identities. These multiple identities lead to different (cultural, social and economic) experiences of being a lesbian, gay and bisexual person in Britain. 

In all of our work Stonewall emphasises that there exists a diversity of experiences within the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. All of Stonewall’s research attempts to capture the diversity of experiences to help us demonstrate this case to the many organisations we work with.

Unfortunately there remain many hard-to-reach groups in the broader gay community. Stonewall are continually looking to develop our work to better encompass the many different identities of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

What we know

Listed below are sources of research which reveal the perspectives of different lesbian, gay and bisexual people. For more information about the rights, and laws relation to different groups, please contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission

• Age 
• Disability 
• Ethnicity 
• Faith and religion 
• Gender 
• Gender identity 

Age

Stonewall’s following publications provide a breakdown of participants on the basis of age, where relevant:

Serves You Right
Living Together
Homophobic Hate Crime
Prescription for Change

All can be accessed on our publications page.

Other research on older and young lesbian, gay and bisexual people includes:

• The diverse older HIV-positive population: A national profile of economic circumstances, social support, and quality of life, Crystal et al (2003)
• Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Lives over 50, Heaphy et al (2003)
• Age and race mixing patterns of sexual partnerships among Asian men who have sex with men: Implications for HIV transmission and prevention K Choi, D
• Triple jeopardy: Targeting older men of colour who have sex with men, Jimenez (2003)
• Social Care Needs Of Older Gay Men and Lesbians On Merseyside, Kitchen (2003)
• Issues facing Older Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals, Age Concern (2002)
• Opening doors to the needs of older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, Age Concern England (2002)
• Lesbian and Gay issues in Residential Care Homes (Blackpool, Fylde, Preston & Wyre), Brown (2002)
• Efficacy of group psychotherapy for homosexual ageng males, Gagliesi (2002)
• Lesbian, Gay Male, Bisexual and Transgendered Elders: Elder Abuse and Neglect Issues, Cook-Daniels (2002)
• The Gay Man's Guide to Growing Older, Lockhart (2002)
• 'Opening Doors' A Literature Review, Turnbull (2002)
• The Housing Needs Of Older Lesbians & Gay Men in the North East, Duckworth et al (1999)
• The Sexual Health Needs of LGBT Young People, LGBT Youth Scotland (2004)
•  Homophobia, Sexual Orientation and Schools: a Review and Implications for Action, Warwick, Chase, Aggleton (2004)
• Something to Tell You: A Health Needs Assessment of Young Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual People in Glasgow, Coia, John, Dobbie, Bruce, McGranachan, Simons (2002)
• Exploring Health Inequalities: The views of young people on Young Gay & Lesbian issues, Christie, Snowsill, Redman (2001)
• Boys' and Young Men's Health: Literature and Practice Review, Lloyd, Forrest  (2001)
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Homelessness Amongst Lesbian and Gay Youth, O'Connor, Molloy (2001)
• Teenage Sexuality in Scotland, Burtney (2000)
• LGBT Youth & Social Inclusion: A Review of Existing Research, Forsyth (2000)
  

Disability

• Prospects for Identity Formation for Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual Persons with Developmental Disabilities S Thompson, M Bryson, S de Castell (2001)
• She Dances to Different Drums: Research into Disabled Women's Sexuality K Sells, M Hill, B Robbins (1998)
• Disabled Lesbians: Challenging Monocultural Constructs C O'Toole (1994)
• Diversity in disability: Exploring the interactions between disability, ethnicity, age, gender and sexuality D Molloy, T Knight, K Woodfield (2003)
• A Double Coming Out - Gay Men with Learning Diabilities C Davidson-Paine, J Corbett  (1995)
• Sexuality and People with Psychiatric Disabilities J Cook (2000)
• Exile & Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation E Clare (1999)
• How Far to Gay? The Politics of HIV in Learning Disability P Cambridge (1997)
• It's Not Just About Ramps and Braille: Disability and Sexual Orientation M Brothers  (2000)
• Secret Loves, Hidden Lives: Exploring isses for people with learning difficulties who are gay, lesbian or bisexual  D Abbott, J Howarth (2005)    
• Sexuality and spinal cord injury: gay men / researched) for the Spinal Injuries Association. M Hooper and REGARD (1995)
• Queer crips: disabled gay men and their stories. B Guter, J R. Killacky. (2003)

Ethnicity

Stonewall’s following publications provide a breakdown on the basis of race and ethnicity, where relevant:

• Serves You Right
• Homophobic Hate Crime 

Other research on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation includes:

• Contemporary mental health issues among African Americans, Harley et al (2004)
• Ethnic Minority Gay Men: Redefining Community, Restoring Identity P Keogh, L Henderson, C Dodds (2004)
• Asian gay counter-hegemonic negotiation of Birmingham's pink pound territory, Bassi (2003)
• Age and race mixing patterns of sexual partnerships among Asian men who have sex with men: Implications for HIV transmission and prevention K Choi, D Operario, S Gregorich,Han, L (2003)
• Perceptions of condom use among African American men who have sex with men Peterson, R Bakeman, J Blackshear,Stokes, J (2003)
• Triple jeopardy: Targeting older men of colour who have sex with men, Jimenez (2003)
• Black gay man: essays, Feid-Pharr (2002)
• The influence of dual-identity development on the psychosocial functioning of African-American gay and bisexual men I Crawford, K Allison, B Zamboni, Soto, T (2002)
• Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud: Black Pride Survey 2000, Battle et al (2000)
• What are you like? Accessing the sexual health needs of Black gay and bisexual men K Fenton, B White, P Weatherburn,Cadette, M (1999)
• Asian American sexualities: dimensions of the gay and lesbian experience,  Leong (1996)
• The Low Down. Black Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexual People Talk About Their Experience and Needs - GALOP (2001)
• Ethnic minority gay men: redefining community, restoring identity - Sigma Research (2004)

Faith and religion

Stonewall has produced a report on the attitudes people of faith have towards lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Love Thy Neighbour found that many people of faith have positive attitudes towards gay people. This is supported by the findings of Living Together which found that the majority of people of faith support sexual orientation equality.

Other research that has been conducted on the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people of faith include:

• Spirituality and sexual orientation: relationship to mental well-being and functional health status, Coleman (2003)
• A Minority Within A Minority: British Non-Heterosexual Muslims, Yip

Gender

All of Stonewall’s work encompasses the experiences of lesbian and bisexual women. Stonewall have also conducted research on the specific experiences of lesbian and bisexual women in the workplace and of healthcare.

• Prescription for Change found that half of lesbian and bisexual women had had a negative experience of healthcare in the last year and that lesbian and bisexual women have distinct health needs from heterosexual women, which health care services often do not cater for.
  
  
• The double-glazed glass ceiling found that lesbian and bisexual women felt that their gender was often more of a barrier to their success at work than their sexual orientation. The research also identified key issues and solutions, identified by lesbian and bisexual women themselves, on how employers could improve their experience in the workplace.

Gender identity

Stonewall recognises that many trans people are also lesbian, gay and bisexual and often trans people encounter homophobia and experience homophobic hate crime. Although Stonewall does not directly lobby or advise on trans issues, we work closely with trans organisations and ensure the people we work with understand the distinct experiences of trans people. We help those organisations find further information.

Useful links:

• a:gender 
  The support network for staff in government departments/agencies who have changed or need to change permanently their perceived gender, or who identify as intersex.
• Depend 
  Depend is a support network linking friends and families of transsexual people
• Gender Identity Research and Education Society
  GIRES provides information, training, literature, website material and policy advice to organisations in the public and private sectors, including health and social care, as well as support for the families of transsexual people
• Mermaids
  Family support group for children and teenagers with gender identity issues
• The Gender Trust
  The Gender Trust offers help and support to adults who are transsexual, gender dysphoric or identify as transgender
• Press for Change 
  Press for Change is one of the leading organisations involved with the development of legislation and best practice in all areas connected with the equal rights and liberties of all trans people in the UK
  
  

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