Lesbian Visibility Week: London LGBT+ charity finds young lesbians most likely to face tension at home during pandemic

Young lesbians are the most likely in the LGBT+ community to experience tension at home, according to new independent research by Just Like Us- a charity for LGBT+ young people.

Six in 10 of young lesbians are experiencing tension at home, such as arguments with family, on at least a weekly basis.

This is compared to 54% of LGBT+ young people generally, and just 37% of non-LGBT+ young people.

"I think if you do live with family, and if you do live with familiy especially who are not very accepting, it can be really difficult to not be able to go out and find people who do get it, and who do understand where you're coming from and what issues you're facing," says 24-year-old Pippa, who lives in Crystal Palace.

Young lesbians face more tension at home on at least a weekly basis than young people who are bisexual, transgender and gay.

LGBT+ young people who are Black are also more likely to face tension at home – 58% of Black LGBT+ young people are facing tension at home at least weekly, compared to 54% of white LGBT+ young people.

In addition, 58% of disabled LGBT+ young people and 53% of LGBT+ young people who are eligible for free school meals are also facing tension at home on a weekly basis.

Young lesbians are more likely than all other young people under the LGBT+ umbrella to report feeling lonely and separated from the people they are closest to on a daily basis since the pandemic began.

"There's not enough positive representation of lesbians," says Amy Ashenden, who's from Just Like Us.

"We're often really overly sexualised, or we're told that we're not good enough because we're butch or we're masculine presenting, so I think in terms of lesbian representation, things are still really limited," she continues.

Almost 9 in 10 young lesbians have felt lonely and separated from the people they’re closest to, including 6 in 10 who have felt this daily, since the pandemic began.

This is compared to 46% of gay boys, 54% of young bisexual people and 52% of young transgender people who have felt lonely and separated on a daily basis. In addition, 78% of young lesbians say their mental health has got worse through lockdown.

Schools are being encouraged to sign up for School Diversity Week - which is the annual celebration of LGBT+ equality in education run by Just Like Us, happening 21–25 June – sign up for free at www.justlikeus.org to take part.

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