HIGHLAND LGBT FORUM & SOCIAL GROUP Making the LGBT community more visible in the Highlands

DOCUMENTS AND RESOURCES

• Highland LGBT Forum Constitution (PDF, 30 KB)

Consultations:

• The new White Paper, 'Fairness for All: A New Commission for Equality and Human Rights' has been published by the UK Department of Trade & Industry. The paper describes the vision, role, functions and powers of the proposed new Commission, which will help achieve a fairer, more inclusive Britain. The Highland LGBT Forum has submitted a response to the consultation.

• Taking stock on sexual orientation - consultation with LGBT people in Scotland by the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee in 2002:
  • Highland LGBT Forum's response (PDF, 75 KB)
  • The Equality Network web site provides a copy of all the responses made - 43 submissions covering some 170 pages (PDF, 750 KB).
  • The Deputy Minister for Social Justice, Hugh Henry, was questioned by the Equal Opportunities Committee on issues arising from the consultation in November 2002. The Official Report of that meeting is available on the Equal Opportunities Committee page of the Parliament web site.

• Civil Partnerships Consultation in Scotland:
  • Key Documents
  • Analysis of Responses (February 2004)
  • Equal Opportunities Committee meeting (November 2003)
  • Civil Partnership Act 2004

• Hate Crimes - visit the Equality Network web site's new section on LGBT Hate Crimes.
• Scottish Executive's Working Group on Hate Crime - consultation report (October 2004)

Employment rights:
Since 1st December 2003, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation. ACAS have produced some useful guidance for employers and staff on how the new regulations will work - click here to view (PDF, 220 KB).

Same-sex domestic violence:
The Broken Rainbow web site has an excellent list of resources including material of its own.
Also see this UK confidential research survey.

Homophobic Bullying
Department of Health resources which aim to support schools in taking a whole school approach to challenging homophobia. Includes Stand Up For Us (1 MB, PDF), plus background info and other resources for schools.

Beyond Barriers Conference:
Linking Scotland Planning Futures - LGBT rural issues conference held in Inverness in September 2003

Reports & Surveys:

• LGBT Youth Scotland online information centre - download PDF reports about LGBT young people and LGBT issues in Scotland.

• Mapping LGBT Scotland is the result of questionnaires completed by 57 LGBT organisations and ancillary services. Published by Beyond Barriers in 2003. Available as a PDF download (430 KB).

• Exploring Biphobia - report of the findings of participatory appraisal research into the experiences of bisexual people in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Published by Beyond Barriers in 2004. Available as a PDF download (150 KB).

• firstout survey by Beyond Barriers of the LGBT community in Scotland (924 responses). Published 2003. Read it online in sections or download the whole report as a PDF file (1 MB).

• Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland (part of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey) - results published by the Scottish Executive in October 2003 - click here for a summary and here for the full report.
  The survey covers discriminatory attitudes towards lesbian and gay people (apparently the researchers considered it was not feasible to ask about attitudes towards bisexual and transgender people), as well as discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, disability and gender.
  Click here for a dossier by the Highland LGBT Forum (75K, PDF).

• Counted Out: the first-ever survey of LGB people in Wales. Carried out by Stonewall Cymru with Cardiff University, this involved interviews with over 350 LGB people across Wales. Published in October 2003.

• Research by the Rainbow Project in Northern Ireland covering gay and bisexual men - includes suicide research, drug use and counselling needs.

• The experiences of LGB pupils at school in NW Ireland - survey by Stephen Birkett of Foyle Friend of young LGB people in Derry/Londonderry. Published 1998.

• New Scientist magazine article on American research that lesbian couples raise well-adjusted teenagers. Published November 2004.

• Survey on Homosexuality Across Europe - citizens of 30 European countries questioned about same-sex marriage and adoption. Gallup Europe. Published 2003.

• LGBT Research in Scotland - list of various studies

Health and Mental Health:

• Towards a Healthier LGBT Scotland - press release from Stonewall and full report (460 KB, PDF) on the findings of the INCLUSION project. Published in October 2003.

• The Highland LGBT Forum was represented at the Equality Network's Health Issues Forum meeting on 31 May 2003. Click here for a report of that meeting (PDF, 50 KB)

• Mental health and social well being of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals in England and Wales - the findings of the largest survey of LGB people ever carried out in Britain. This 3-year study interviewed 2,400 gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and heterosexuals. Published by Mind in September 2003.

• Sexual Exclusion - Homophobia and health inequalities: A review of health inequalities and social exclusion experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Published in July 2004 by the UK Gay Men's Health Network.

• The summer 2003 magazine of the Scottish Association for Mental Health published an excellent short article on LGBT mental health by Alastair Pringle, project manager of INCLUSION - click here to read the article.

• Diagnosis: Homophobic - The experiences of Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals in Mental Health Services - a very interesting publication by PACE, London's largest lesbian and gay counselling and mental health project.

• Factsheets from Mind - lots of useful info on LGB mental health from this charity based in England and Wales which recently completed a survey on this topic.

Other Recommended Reads:

• Opening Doors by Age Concern - report on the first national conference on the needs of older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals which brought together over 200 participants from throughout the UK (available online for free as a series of PDF documents).

• The Lesbian Information Service (based in England) has a wide range of reports, publications and booklists available on its web site.