Mallee Accommodation & Support Program (MASP) acknowledges International Pride Month and the impact homelessness has on Australia’s LGBTIQA+ community.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer people are over-represented among those experiencing homelessness, and are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness than the rest of the population.
The 2014 General Social Survey in Australia recorded that 13% of heterosexuals had ever been homeless compared with 21% of bisexual people and 34% of lesbian/gay people.
“Drivers for homelessness in the LGBTIQA+ community include family rejection and violence, discrimination in the housing sector and employment, mental health problems including heightened anxiety and stress, substance abuse and trauma,” MASP Acting CEO Charmaine Calis (pictured) said.
“MASP is committed to supporting those experiencing homelessness in the Mallee and Far West New South Wales, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender.”
Pride Month is an annual celebration of the many contributions made by the LGBTIQA+ community to history, society and cultures worldwide.
In most places, Pride is celebrated throughout the month of June each year in commemoration of its roots in the Stonewall Riots of June 1969 in the United States.
