CSE’s grant schemes aim to build resilient networks of energy advisors tackling fuel poverty and climate change. With over two decades of experience managing grant distributions, we’ve developed expertise in ensuring fuel poverty support reaches areas of high need, often geographically, but sometimes with demographic communities too.

So what are the economics of being LGBTQ+ in the UK? While many will have an answer to this question from first hand, often painful, lived experience, there is a lack of research on the systemic links between being LGBTQ+ and fuel poverty (or poverty more generally). A gap in the data, on top of a dehumanising social climate, means a lack of funding.

Through our experience with grant schemes, we’ve found that funding in the energy sector rarely reaches grassroots organisations providing tailored support to LGBTQ+ people. LGBTQ+ centred third-sector organisations receive 10p for every £100 given to the voluntary and community sector each year, despite LGBTQ+ people making up at least 2% of the population.

Little research exists into the lived experience of LGBTQ+ people

The legacy of policies like Section 28, which barred local authorities from teaching about LGBTQ+ identities, has likely limited research on LGBTQ+ experiences. When available, resources are often concentrated on fighting overt discrimination rather than systemic economic challenges. This is most evident for trans and nonbinary people, who are having to react to an escalating environment of transphobia. For example, whilst the British Social Attitudes Survey has shown that as a society, we’ve become more liberal on many issues over the last 40 years, this is not true when considering people’s right to live without experiencing transphobia and to access gender affirming services. Meanwhile, hate crimes against trans people are becoming more common, with a reported 11% increase, which the Home Office says may be due to narratives from politicians and the media.

The cold reality of LGBTQ+ fuel poverty

There is evidence to suggest LGBTQ+ communities are facing increasing financial hardship. In 2022, the majority of frontline staff at Galop, a charity serving LGBTQ+ survivors of abuse, said that their service users needed grants for essentials, like food and household bills as the cost-of-living crisis worsened. Meanwhile, GP records show that patients living in deprived areas are more than twice as likely to be transgender than patients living in the least deprived areas.

LGBTQ+ people have historically faced barriers to building financial security. Discrimination in mortgage lending has led to lower homeownership rates among lesbian, gay and bisexual people. They are more likely to rent (there is a lack of data on asset ownership among trans people) and there is clear evidence that people in private or socially rented accommodation are much more likely to experience fuel poverty. Additionally, evidence shows higher rates of benefit claims among gay men and trans people compared to cisgender and heterosexual people – another factor linked to increased fuel poverty risk.

Lower incomes and workplace barriers

Research shows that LGBTQ+ identities often correlate with income disparities, with pay cuts at 7% for gay men, 9% for bisexual men and 4.5% for bisexual women, compared to straight peers. On the other hand, the study found an average 7% premium for lesbians compared to straight women (data on gender identity was not collected here).

Trans women are more affected by workplace discrimination, with research finding that they could weather a 4%-20% pay cut over their transition. And in 2021, 63% of trans people surveyed by TransActual had experienced transphobia while seeking work, rising to 73% among trans people of colour. With 1 in 3 employers saying they are less likely to employ a trans person, responding to a survey in 2018, it’s unsurprising that trans people are 81% more likely to be unemployed compared to cisgender peers.

The recent Supreme Court ruling could present another challenge in fighting workplace discrimination, as it casts doubt on trans women’s options for fighting for equal pay claims and puts their ability to access public spaces and services at risk. Healthcare costs, under a lack of public provision for trans people, can further strain already limited financial resources.  

Homelessness and housing insecurity

LGBTQ+ young people frequently experience abuse at home. Many are forced to move out young and sofa surf, squat, live in unsafe environments or move between rough sleeping and temporary accommodation. LGBTQ+ young people are twice as likely to experience hidden homelessness than heterosexual young people, again, with trans young people especially vulnerable. LGBTQ+ young people who are forced to leave home may miss out on the chance to learn how the energy system works and how to advocate for themselves in it, making energy advice and support from community organisations invaluable.

Challenges with accessing support

In an increasingly hostile social environment, many LGBTQ+ people do not feel safe enough to approach general support services, for fear of facing discrimination, abuse or being outed. Research shows many general support services do not have the knowledge or resources to tailor advice to LGBTQ+ people’s needs. Meanwhile, being LGBTQ+ can make it more difficult to access benefits with assessments of relationship status and documentation requirements create barriers, especially for trans people. Specialised support is often necessary to help navigate these complex systems.

The power of community connection

Community connection is a vital component of the support provided by grassroots organisations that CSE partners with. People who use these services say they benefit from an increased sense of community, making them feel less alone to face escalating financial hardship. For LGBTQ+ people, who often experience social isolation and higher rates of mental health challenges, these community spaces could become lifelines, if they felt safe enough to access the support there. The cost-of-living crisis has made this community support even more crucial, providing both practical assistance and emotional wellbeing resources when they’re needed most

A call for more funding for LQBTQ+ fuel poverty support

LGBTQ+ communities and the organisations that support them need more money to provide support services. There is research to evidence this need, bringing hope that community organisations will be better equipped to access funding to support LGBTQ+ people in future. Through CSE’s grant management work, we’ve seen how targeted funding can transform lives.

Given the recent increases in transphobia and rising levels of hate crime against trans people, it is now especially important to ensure LGBTQ+ communities (and the grassroots organisations supporting them) can access the financial resources needed to keep each other safe and resilient.

If you’re working in funding, policy, or service provision, we encourage you to consider how your work could better support LGBTQ+ communities, especially through increased funding. To learn more about CSE’s grant management approach and how we can help, contact our communities team.