‘This is how it works here’: the spatial deprioritisation of trans people within homelessness services in Wales

‘Homelessness is a queer experience.’: utopianism and mutual aid as survival strategies for homeless trans people

“…At an international policy level, the substantial turn toward prevention within homelessness services has been motivated by awareness that homelessness is a traumatic, highly disruptive experience in its own right, and that early, appropriate interventions are critical to mitigating its impacts (Mackie et al, 2017). Yet mainstream homelessness services are a space where trans people continue to face both direct and indirect discrimination, marginalization and exclusion (England, 2021(England, , 2022Mottet & Ohle, 2006;Pyne, 2011). This operates both directly, (as service refusal) and indirectly, (as maintenance of exclusionary access requirements, such as gendered dress codes for service users -see Pyne, 2011).…”

“…While the scope and enforceability of these is questionable (Gedalof, 2018;Spade, 2015), they nevertheless establish service inclusion as a default (Matthews & Poyner, 2020). Documented continued exclusion from public services has been associated with system design and implementation approaches which overlook trans people's existence or needs, producing identify invalidation, obstructing access to specialist medical care and failing to offer protection from discrimination (England, 2021;Seelman, 2015;Spade, 2015).…”

“…However, specialist service provision has practical limitations. It is often geographically specific, centred in large urban areas and so is less helpful to rural homeless queer people (England, 2021;Matthews et al, 2019). Services also tend to be age-specific, mostly targeted at those under 25.…”

“…Trans people-those whose gender identity does not match that assigned to them at birth-are at considerably elevated risk of homelessness. This reflects their marginalized legal, bureaucratic and socio-economic status (Wilson et al, 2020) and consequent prevalence of common vectors into homelessness such as poverty, employment and housing discrimination, physical and mental ill-health, and compromised access to medical care (England, 2021;Bachman & Gooch, 2018;Ecker et al, 2019;Kattari & Begun, 2017;Reck, 2009;Shelton, 2016;Spicer, 2010). There is a growing awareness that LGBTQ + people as a group have specific needs in terms of avoiding, resolving and surviving homelessness (Albert Kennedy Trust, 2018;Ecker et al, 2019;Matthews et al, 2019).…”

‘You’re having us on … that’s what it felt like.’: Frontline Workers Navigating the Introduction of Moral Commitments to Domestic Abuse Support within a Statutory Homelessness System

“…Even as rhetorical commitment to women's freedom from domestic abuse has intensified, funding for services to address the practical, social effects of domestic abuse has become increasingly haphazard, unpredictable, and scarce, with especially significant impacts upon women facing additional loci of marginalisation: women of colour, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women and migrants (Berger, 2009;Ishkanian, 2014;Mackenzie et al, 2015;Jurasz, 2019;Sweet, 2019;Pain, 2021;England, 2022aEngland, , 2022b. As Mackenzie et al (2015) argue, an implementation gap often exists between the high-level intentions of legislation and policy aimed at addressing domestic abuse, and the practices that play out on the ground, through frontline services.…”