Serving black and minority ethnic gay people properly

Public services often seem only to deal with one minority at a time and must think about discrimination differently
Black and minority ethnic gay people contribute more than £4.5bn in taxes but adaquete provision is out of their reach. Photograph: Marc Romanelli/Getty Images

Despite huge progress in public attitudes towards Britain's 3.7 million lesbian, gay and bisexual people, news stories about homophobia in the media and among politicians and church leaders shows there remains a lot to be done.

Sadly, for some parts of the gay community problems run deeper still. Black and other minority ethnic gay people in particular face problems beyond straightforward homophobia, because too often our public services seem only to be able to deal with one minority at a time.

New research published by Stonewall and the Runnymede Trust exposes the damage caused by services that think users are either from one minority or another. The research, based on detailed interviews with black and minority ethnic gay people, shows that many public service workers rarely consider the possibility of someone being black and gay – and most have little or no training to encourage them to do so. Black and minority ethnic gay people contribute more than £4.5bn in taxes to fund these services – it is only right that we challenge poor provision and identify failings.

Black gay people's difficulties with public services include their earliest interactions with teachers and other people at school, their interactions with the criminal justice system and when they are accessing healthcare.

To begin tackling these issues, public services must think about discrimination differently. Most have had anti-racism policies and practices in place far longer than they've had policies that outlaw anti-gay bullying. Now it's time to think about how those two forms of discrimination interact, and the impact that they can have.

Participants in the report make a series of recommendations for public services:

Don't create a hierarchy between identities. Public bodies have historically given more thought to issues of race and disability than to sexual orientation. Participants pointed out that when public bodies have thought about how they can make services accessible to black and minority ethnic people they have often failed to consider lesbian, gay and bisexual people from these communities. The Equality Act creates an opportunity to consider sexual orientation by building on what services already know rather than starting all over again.

Participants felt that the views and voices of black gay people are rarely considered. Engage and involve local service users to make sure your services reflect the needs and experiences of black and minority ethnic gay people.

Staff should be well trained. Participants want service providers to develop a greater awareness about the needs of black and minority ethnic gay service users.

Ensure people can be open about their sexual orientation. Participants felt unsure about how staff would respond to them if they disclosed their sexual orientation and were anxious about how it would affect the service they received. They pointed out that there is often nothing to reassure them that they would not experience discrimination or negative reactions.

Make openly gay black and minority ethnic people more visible. Participants explained that more visibility of black gay people, for example by displaying gay-friendly images that reflect black and minority ethnic communities, would make them feel more confident to access services and to be open when doing so.

Provide practical support. Public bodies sometimes spend a lot of time developing action plans and reports. Participants said they would like to see practical interventions too, such as resources, information and opportunities which are targeted at them.

Public services have to work hard to make sure they serve people from all kinds of different backgrounds. Sadly, for black and minority ethnic lesbian, gay and bisexual people, that doesn't always happen. Dealing with people as though they belong to one minority at a time often means they're simply let down. This latest report is a first step towards putting that to an end.

April Guasp is senior research officer at Stonewall
