UK: Small daily struggles make LGBT people feel like they have to hide

A summer of Pride is well and truly underway in the UK. More and more cities are organising and embracing Pride events, with all the rainbow flags, glitter and defiant political messages that entails. But more than 50 years after homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK, LGBT people still do not feel that they can totally be themselves.

Results from the government’s National LGBT Survey show that LGBT people are less satisfied with their lives than the rest of the general UK population. In response, the government has created an action plan, to tackle some of the major issues raised by LGBT people in the survey.

For instance, the plan pledges to put a stop to gay conversion therapies - a process intended to “treat” or “reprogramme” homosexual feelings with a mixture of psychotherapy and prayer. While it’s great news that this abhorrent and damaging process is being banned, the report also highlights other challenges facing LGBT people, including some “simple things heterosexual people take for granted”. Read more via the Conversation