Scottish Government minister Emma Roddick confirms imminent launch of conversion therapy consultation and non-binary equality action plan at unveiling of LGBT Youth Scotland's rural report
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Minister for equalities, migration and refugees Emma Roddick re-affirmed the Scottish Government's commitment to LGBTQ+ young people across the country at the launch of LGBT Youth Scotland's Life in Scotland Rural Report earlier this month.
The event took place at Eden Court in Inverness, with the headline figure from the largest ever survey of LGBTQ+ youth in Scotland being that just 39 per cent of people in rural areas felt their community was welcoming, compared to 59 per cent in non-rural areas.
It also found that just over a third (37 per cent) of people in rural areas felt there was an accessible safe space for them, compared to 48 per cent of those in non-rural areas.
The report, which was compiled off the back of 1279 survey responses, also contained a series of quotes from respondents containing their perception of life for LGBTQ+ young people in the country.
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At Eden Court, then, a number of speakers were present to dissect the findings across speeches and panel discussions, including Highlands and Islands MSP Ms Roddick.
She pointed to the Scottish Government's plan to tackle hate crime published earlier this year as helping to address some of the issues raised, as well as reiterating their commitments to non-binary equality – with an action plan recently published by the Scottish Government – and banning conversion therapy for sexual orientation and gender identity, with a public consultation to be launched before the end of 2023.
Ms Roddick also commented that she was not surprised by the report's findings, a feeling echoed by LGBT Youth Scotland chief executive Dr Mhairi Crawford.
"We hear from stories that experiences are generally worse (in rural areas), and the statistics show how much worse it is," Dr Crawford said.
"That's quite telling. You go from nearly 60 per cent of young people feeling accepted in an urban environment to under 40 per cent in a rural environment, and that's a hell of a drop.
"That's well over half to well under half, so what can we do to support young people? That statistic was particularly telling for me, and young people not feeling safe to report a crime, or to come out and talk about their identity and orientation. We already knew that, but hearing from young people about how they don't feel safe reporting a hate crime really hammers home the importance of third party reporting centres.
"Some said they can only come out to certain people at home, and they are waiting to get to a city. That's just extra challenges that really hit home for me when I'm looking at the report.
"Hearing the individual stories really bring it to life. Unfortunately we didn't have young people at the event, but that's why we wanted to use some videos to hear directly from young people in their own words.
"That makes a difference – and that's what people tells us makes a difference. When we are able to bring young people in and have them speaking to someone, that's when you change hearts and minds in a way that me standing at the front of the room just doesn't."
LGBT Youth Scotland cover the entirety of the country – but reaching those who need them most in rural areas like the Highlands does pose a challenge.
Funding for projects can be a challenge, as well as making services accessible and safe for everyone to attend.
"We're really focused on finding a way to support any LGBTQ+ young person that needs us," Dr Crawford added.
"If they just need information, we have huge banks on our website where young people can dip in and out and find what they need. One big issue is finding good quality information online – if you look at Heartstopper, they are Googling 'am I gay', and we have resources that can help with that, so we need to help young people find that.
"We do have rural services, but we don't have enough. Funding rural services is a nightmare.
"We've been trying for two or three years to fund a dedicated Highlands service, and we're really struggling to get funding for that.
"That's really challenging, because actually we don't know what service is needed here. We have funding for an eight hours-a-week youth worker in Inverness, but we need to work with young people to find out what services they need, so finding a funder is crucial to help us do that scoping exercise and help us develop the right services off the back of that.
"If you're in Wick and you're going to get identified as queer for going into the youth hall, that might not be safe, so there is so much work to be done on how we actually do that in a way that will work for young people.
"Young people need to tell us how it should be run, how it will be safe for them and therefore how we need to be present in their area. Ideally what we need is someone who can go around and do that engagement, find ways to engage with the young people here.
"We would love to be able to do more surveys for people specifically in this community, and work with organisations like Youth Highland to find more ways to engage with young people so that they can come to us through a different avenue."
