Manchester LGBTQ+ charity sees 171% increase in young people seeking help
It follows the UK Supreme Court judgment on how a woman should be defined in law earlier this year
A Greater Manchester youth charity that has seen the number of young people seeking its help soar by 171% is aiming to raise enough money to fund 1,500 hours of support this Pride season.
Following the UK Supreme Court judgment on how a woman should be defined in law earlier this year, The Proud Trust saw a 171% increase in referrals - almost all of which were for trans and non-binary young people.
Kate Heppell, business development and partnerships manager at The Proud Trust, said: “We have seen a sudden and clear increase in demand for our support from LGBTQ+ young people who have been affected by the Supreme Court ruling.
“Young people are worried that they won't be able to play their favourite sports with their friends, or unsure if they can attend activities because they don't know if they'll have access to something as simple as a toilet.”
Alongside a surge in referrals for its youth groups, the charity has also experienced a shift in the conversations on its Proud Connections Live chat service. In the two weeks before the ruling, 46% of chats were about gender identity and in the two weeks after the ruling that number almost doubled to 83%.
One of the young people who attends the charity’s Proud Young Adults youth group said: “The Proud Trust has done wonders for young people like me who are going through some of the worst times. Politics aside, going through puberty is terrifying, let alone as an LGBTQ+ individual, but these youth groups give us the space to feel like 'normal' teenagers, 'normal' children, letting us just be us.”
A young person who attends a Greater Manchester youth group added: “Without LGBTQ+ youth groups, we’re all divided. When controversy comes our way, it’s an easy way for us to come together and make sure that we’re all safe."
Kate says that out of those The Proud Trust supports trans young people are currently facing the ‘biggest challenges’ due to the number of negative news stories in the press and the lengthy waiting times they face to see gender specialists.
“If someone sees their GP at 16, they might not be seen by a specialist until their early twenties so it can be a really long wait.
“All of our youth groups have a lot of trans young people in them, and our young people have close friends who are trans, so all our young people care really deeply about trans rights, and the negative media messaging is really affecting them, they want to push back on that,” she says.
In response to the rocketing number of trans and non-binary young people seeking help, The Proud Trust is aiming to raise enough money to fund 1,500 hours of support for LGBTQ+ young people this pride season through its Time to Be Proud charity campaign.
The Equality Commission expects to publish its new statutory code of conduct by the summer.