LGBTQ+ Services: Online Survey Report

Demographics

• Three quarters of respondents are, or think they might be, LGBTQ+ (the remainder are allies, professionals, or family members)
• 45% of respondents are under 25 (72% are under 35)
• 16% have a disability, 45% consider themselves neurodiverse
• 74% have no stated religion; 12% are from non-white ethnic group
• Respondents from PO2, PO3 and PO6 (North Portsmouth) represent 28% of the sample

Awareness, usage and satisfaction with PCC’s LGBTQ+ services

• Awareness is low at less than 25% for all services (groups, web pages, one-to-one support)
• Usage is very low at less than 8% for all services
• Satisfaction is high with all services, particularly the 4Us youth group (4.7 out of 5) suggesting those who access the services are happy with the provision in place (caution: very small number of respondents)
• Suggested improvements focus on making the web pages an aggregator of information about, and access to, support available from charities and other partners. Similarly for the youth groups, respondents would like the groups to act as a go-between or link up with other services

One-to-one interventions/support

• Respondents would like this service to offer a broad range of support, with all suggested roles/topics being well-received. The most frequently chosen types of support they would like to see the service offer are: mental health support, help with reporting hate crime, developing LGBT understanding, sex relationships education (SRE), and support with school

Likelihood to use services and possible barriers to use

• The biggest barrier to use is not knowing the services exist in the first place
• Once aware, there don’t appear to be any specific issues obstructing access other than age. It may be beneficial for groups and one-to-one assistance to be extended up to 35 years
• It would also be beneficial to optimise the application process for the groups and one-to-one support to make access simpler
• Amongst those respondents with intersectional protected characteristics it is important that services are run and attended by people similar to themselves

Marketing and communication of council services

• The large majority of respondents would like to hear about council LGBTQ+ services through social media. It is essential that information about the services available is promoted on social media. The dominant platforms are Instagram and Facebook
• Schools are also extremely important as a communicator of information about support available

Other (non-council) LGBTQ+ services/spaces and communication

• Social media groups and online content are important channels. Of particular importance (again primarily on Instagram and Facebook) are Queer all Year, Portsmouth Pride and Downtown Pompey
• Note, the PCC website is important in communicating information about non-council services and support as well as its own
• Schools are again important as a communicator of all LGBTQ+ information, not just the council-run provision

Other services, support or activities the LGBTQ+ community would like

• Respondents are supportive of all the suggested ideas
• Education in schools being expanded is the top choice (72%). Also popular are safe drop-in spaces for all age groups including adults, social clubs for different age groups, and dedicated social media pages with regular content

• Collect background information on young people’s experiences of being LGBTQ+, popular cultural influences and social media usage, and safe spaces and any micro-aggressions or discrimination experienced
• Explore awareness of and satisfaction with current LGBTQ+ services for children and young people up to 25 years (specifically the youth groups for three different age bands, and the one-to-one support service)
• Explore how best to communicate with intersectional groups within LGBTQ+ and increase engagement
• Investigate what additional or different support or services might be needed to serve these intersectional groups

We took a mixed methodology approach to meet the research objectives comprising five workshop style focus groups (5 more are envisaged) and a complementary online survey. This report focuses solely on findings from the online survey.

Given the sensitive nature of the subject and the need to consult with a wide cross-section of people, the online survey allowed interested parties to share views privately and also facilitated completion rates by those with certain disabilities or other protected characteristics that might have made it difficult for them to attend an in person focus group.

The online survey was shared with existing lists or groups of residents from the LGBTQ+ community and by the use of snowball recruitment from the focus group/workshop attendees (i.e. participants asking their wider circle of acquaintances to complete the survey).

The online survey was available to complete during March 2023 and 119 respondents took part.