LGBTQI clients Financial Capability Best Practice Guide

This workbook has been produced as part of Citizens Advice Financial Skills for Life.

Although care has been taken to ensure the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information provided, Citizens Advice assumes no responsibility. The user of the information agrees that the information is subject to change without notice. To the extent permitted by law, Citizens Advice excludes all liability for any claim, loss, demands or damages of any kind whatsoever (whether such claims, loss, demands or damages were foreseeable, known or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with the drafting, accuracy and/or its interpretation, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage and whether arising in tort (including negligence), contract or otherwise. Copyright © 2015 Citizens Advice All rights reserved. Any reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited except with the express written permission of Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice is an operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Charity registration number 279057, VAT number 726020276, Company Limited by Guarantee, rd Registered number 1436945 England. Registered office: Citizens Advice, 3 Floor North, 200 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD 2 ©2015 Citizens Advice Best Practice – LGBTQI/Jan17/v2

Introduction This guide is based on the experiences of staff at OUTreach Liverpool, an LGBTQI community advice project delivered by North Liverpool CAB. We will be adding to this guide as our experience develops and your thoughts and feedback would be appreciated – email [email protected]

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Contents Background

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Facts and Figures

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Practical steps

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Step 1 – Consider your own knowledge and skills

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Step 2 – Outreach and engagement

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Step 3 – Preparing resources

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Step 4 – Getting ready to deliver

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Step 5 – Delivering sessions

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Further Information and contacts

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Appendix – Definitions and Terminology

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Background Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with some of these terms: there is an appendix at the end of this guide! Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia exists within all levels of our society. Society has become more accepting and tolerant of LGBTQI people and lifestyles, but hate crime directed against LGBTQI people continues to be an issue for a significant number of LGBTQI people. Some LGBTQI people may identify themselves principally in terms of their sexual or gender identity, but others do not. LGBTQI people might have other characteristics that might mean they are further marginalised or discriminated against, for example, on the grounds of disability, mental health, race, nationality, gender, etc. Sexual identity is self-determined. The process of ‘coming out’ - revealing that you are lesbian, gay or bisexual to the important people in your life - is a major milestone in the lives of many LGB people. Similarly, gender identity (identifying as a man, woman, trans man, trans woman, or another identity) is also self-determined. The majority of the financial capability and advice issues that LGBTQI people face are similar to those faced by the rest of society, but there are some differences based on legalities. For example, there are differences between the marriage of heterosexual people and civil partnerships of same sex couples (though same-sex marriage has now been legalised and will replace civilpartnerships in the future), and there is also legislation that relates to gender reassignment. Many non-LGBTQI people might think that they do not know or have never had any contact with LGBTQI people, but this is mostly not the case. There is no typical gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans person, and unless someone explicitly expresses their sexual identity or gender identity it may not be obvious. It should not be assumed that all groups of clients will comprise a mix of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. Some groups represent or offer services solely to trans people, others are based on sexuality (such the Citizens Advice National 5 ©2015 Citizens Advice Best Practice – LGBTQI/Jan17/v2

Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Network Group), and others might be solely for gay men or lesbian women. To take this further, other groups might be defined on other characteristics in addition to sexual or gender identity such as an older lesbian group, a black LGBTQI group or a under 25’s trans group.

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Facts and figures Stonewall estimates that between 5% and 7% of the UK population identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Some research indicates that between 1% and 5% of the population are trans. Trans is an umbrella term that covers transgender people, transsexual people, cross-dressers and other people who feel that they do not fit into the ‘gender binary’ of male or female. These proportions might be significantly higher in larger cities and lower in less urban or rural regions, but LGBTQI people live in all regions and localities of the country. o Three in five (61%) lesbian, gay and bisexual people expect their child would be bullied in primary school if it were known that the child had gay parents. More than four in five (83%) expect the same for a child in secondary school. o Three quarters (76%) of gay people believe that lesbian, gay and bisexual politicians are subject to greater scrutiny, including by the media, compared to heterosexual politicians. o Almost six in ten (56%) gay and bisexual men and almost half (46%) of lesbian and bisexual women believe they would be treated worse by a prison officer than a heterosexual person. o One in five (20%) lesbian, gay and bisexual people would expect to be treated worse than heterosexual people when reporting a crime if the police officer knew their sexual orientation. A quarter (24%) expect discrimination if reporting a homophobic hate crime. o Almost one in five (18%) lesbian, gay and bisexual people expect to be treated worse than heterosexual people when applying for social housing. One in eight (12%) gay young people aged 18 to 24 expect to be treated worse than heterosexual people by their GP. o More than six in ten (63%) gay and bisexual men and four in ten (38%) lesbians and bisexual women expect to experience homophobia if they take part in a team sport and are open about their sexual orientation. 7 ©2015 Citizens Advice Best Practice – LGBTQI/Jan17/v2

o More than half (57%) of gay people say there is ‘too little’ portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people on television and half (49%) think current portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people on UK television is unrealistic. o One in five (19%) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees have experienced verbal bullying from colleagues, customers or service users because of their sexual orientation in the last five years. o One in eight (13%) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees would not feel confident reporting homophobic bullying in their workplace. A quarter (26%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual workers are not at all open to colleagues about their sexual orientation.

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Practical steps The following steps are broad practical steps for working with LGBTQI clients. As with all resources falling under the remit of the financial capability team, this best practise guide is considered to be a live document and will be periodically updated and refreshed. We encourage any local Citizens Advice to contact us with comments, ideas and case-studies that we can incorporate into future versions, in order that we can continue to share good practise across the local Citizens Advice network. To contact the Citizens Advice Financial Skills for Life team, email us at [email protected]

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Step one: Consider your own knowledge and skills Before setting off, take a moment to consider what you already have available in your local office, from physical resources to staff and experience. •

Do you or any of the advisers/volunteers already have experience of working with LGBTQI people?

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Do you have LGBTQI colleagues within the Citizens Advice service?

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Have you undergone any training about sexual or gender identity? Training is provided by many local LGBTQI groups. Nationally, Stonewall (for LGB) and the Beaumont Society (for trans) provide support, information and contacts.

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Local LGBTQI publications often list local groups and organisations and many have an online presence – for example OutNorthWest is a popular magazine run by the LGBT foundation.

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Have you talked with an experienced trainer about their work with LGBTQI clients? We would recommend shadowing a colleague wherever possible to see the issues and challenges that can arise. See also the reports on other projects run by the network on the Citizens Advice website.

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Step two: Outreach and engagement •

Deliver sessions to groups of LGBTQI people in settings where they already meet, and where they feel comfortable and are more likely to feel able to share their issues and concerns. This includes LGBTQI community centres, LGBTQI youth groups, and LGBTQI health projects. Some larger organisations have LGBTQI staff groups and trade unions often have self-organised LGBTQI groups.

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Directly contact the centre or group and find out more about the needs of people who might be interested in your training.

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Ensure that you don’t forget wider access needs around disability, mobility and communication. A LGBTQI client is not defined by being part of this group, and may have other needs that need to be taken into account. For example, you may wish to check if you need BSL or foreign language interpretation.

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Find out if your training can be linked to other services that are needed, e.g. a financial capability session linked to an outreach advice session can be effective – in Liverpool this approach developed into the OUTreach Liverpool project, which has been funded by the Reaching Communities programme of the BIG Lottery Fund.

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Local offices that wish to work with the LGBTQI community might undertake some type of LGBTQI equality impact assessment to prove that they are LGBTQI-aware and friendly. These assessments generally award a charter mark or other signifier that the organisation can use to promote its LGBTQIfriendliness. Stonewall offer an LGB equality impact assessment. Other schemes might also include gender identity in the auditing process, for example Navajo in the North West is a free auditing scheme that covers both sexuality and gender identity. Some impact assessments might incur a cost from the assessment body and there might be training and other costs required in order to meet acceptable standards.

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Step three: Preparing resources Many training materials are heterosexist (based on the assumption that people are heterosexual). It is important to use examples that include same sex couples and trans people. Consider the advice or areas of particular concern to LGBTQI clients and link your financial capability sessions to these topics e.g. legal rights for same-sex couples, joint bank accounts, and tenancy issues. You could also link your financial capability sessions to topics which relate to financial exclusion and access to financial services e.g. opening joint bank accounts, or having consistent forms of ID. Local offices have used both individual and group delivery models. Either or both can work, depending on the nature and the needs of the community. The Citizens Advice financial capability resource library is available at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/financialcapabilityresources Further guidance produced by the central Citizens Advice equality team can be found at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cablink/equality/

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Step four: Getting ready to deliver •

If possible, meet with centre support staff beforehand, and discuss the content of your session, its purpose, and the context in which it is being delivered. We always recommend that advisers and volunteers take their cue for the session from the centre support staff, who will be much more familiar with the clients and their specific needs.

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Some organisations might have LGBTQI-only, gay-only, women-only, menonly or trans-only spaces within their premises. Ensure that you are aware of this and negotiate who can and cannot use various spaces and if it is permissible to send non-LGBTQI trainers.

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Step five: Delivering sessions •

Ensure that if you are working with trans people you know the personal pronouns (he, she, him, her) that learners prefer to use. Some trans groups might begin meetings or training sessions with each participant indicating the pronouns that they prefer. If unsure ask.

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Be aware that some people in the group might not be ‘out’ about their sexuality or gender identity and that there might be some concern about confidentiality - confirming or reiterating the Citizens Advice values around confidentiality will normally help.

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Further information and contacts

Stonewall is renowned for its campaigning and lobbying. Some major successes include helping achieve the equalisation of the age of consent, lifting the ban on LGB people serving in the military, securing legislation which allowed same-sex couples to adopt and the repeal of Section 28. More recently Stonewall has helped secure civil partnerships and then same-sex marriage, and ensured that the recent Equality Act protected lesbian, gay and bi people in terms of goods and services. They can be found here at www.stonewall.org.uk.

Established in 1966, the Beaumont society has been at the forefront of supporting the transgender community, together with their partners and families, as well as advising and training on transgender issues. They can be found here at www.beaumontsociety.org.uk

GIRES is a volunteer operated membership charity that, in collaboration with the other groups in its field, hears, helps, empowers and gives a voice to trans and gender non-conforming individuals, including those who are non-binary and non-gender, as well as their families. They can be found here at www.gires.org.uk

The Citizens Advice Self Organised Network Group can be found here.

If you’ve experienced hate crime, sexual violence or domestic abuse, Galop can provide support. They also support lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people who have had problems with the police or have questions about the criminal justice system. They can be found here at http://www.galop.org.uk/

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Appendix – Definitions and terminology LGBTQI stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex Below are definitions of LGBTQI terms and related information that will help you understand LGBTQI persons and their community: •

Biphobia - The irrational fear and intolerance of people who are bisexual, or the marginalization or refusal to acknowledge bisexuality as a legitimate sexuality.

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Bisexual - Also colloquially referred to as "bi." A person who is attracted to two sexes or two genders, but not necessarily simultaneously or equally. This used to be defined as a person who is attracted to both genders or both sexes, but since sex and gender don't operate on binaries (see "intersex"/"transsexual" and "transgender"), this definition is inaccurate.

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Cisgenderism - Holding people to traditional expectations based on gender, or punishing or excluding those who don't conform to traditional gender expectations.

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Cissexism - The belief and treatment of trans people as inferior or less authentic than cissexual (non-trans) people.

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Coming Out - To recognize one's sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex identity, and to be open about it with oneself and with others.

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Cross-Dresser - Individuals who regularly or occasionally wear the clothing socially assigned to a gender not their own, but are usually comfortable with their anatomy and do not wish to change it (i.e. they are not transsexuals). Cross-dresser is the preferred term for men who enjoy or prefer women's clothing and social roles. Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of male cross-dressers identify as straight and often are married. Very few women call themselves cross-dressers.

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Demisexual - Demisexuals generally do not form random sexual attraction to people (regardless of sex or gender), but if they get to know someone, sexual attraction can develop as a result of or along with an emotional connection. 16

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•

Domestic Partner - One who lives with their beloved and/or is at least emotionally and financially connected in a supportive manner with another. Another word for spouse, lover, significant other, etc.

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Dominant Culture - The cultural values, beliefs, and practices that are assumed to be the most common and influential within a given society.

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Drag - The act of dressing in gendered clothing as part of a performance. Drag Queens perform in highly feminine attire. Drag Kings perform in highly masculine attire. Drag may be performed as a political comment on gender, as parody, or simply as entertainment. Drag performance does not indicate sexuality, gender identity, or sex identity.

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Family - Colloquial term used to identify other LGBTQI community members. For example, an LGBTQI person saying, “that person is family” often means that the person they are referring to is LGBTQI as well.

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FTM/F2M - Female-to-Male Transsexual.

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Gay - Men attracted emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually to men. Colloquially used at times as an umbrella term to include all LGBTQI people.

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Gender - A socially constructed system of classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and femininity to people. Gender characteristics can change over time and are different between cultures. Words that refer to gender include: man, woman, transgender, masculine, feminine, genderqueer, bigender, and agender. One's sense of self as masculine or feminine regardless of external genitalia. Gender is often conflated with sex. This is inaccurate because sex refers to bodies and gender refers to personality characteristics.

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Gender Conformity/Cisgendered - When a person's gender identity and sex are in alignment (i.e. fit social norms), e.g. a male who is masculine and identifies as a man. The term "cisgendered" was coined in the early 1990s as a way to refer to people who do not identify as transgender, and the prefix "cis-" is used in the term "cissexual" to refer to the same concept as applied to biological sex.

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Gender Dysphoria - Being discontent with the biological sex and/or gender that a person was assigned at birth. This discontent can lead to serious discomfort and feelings of "wrongness," that the person was born in the wrong body. The professional diagnosis for gender dysphoria has been gender identity disorder (GID), though it is likely that the term will be removed from the DSM-V and replaced with gender dysphoria.

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Gender Expression - The way that a person chooses to express themself.

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Gender Identity - The gender that a person sees themselves as. This can include refusing to label oneself with a gender. Gender identity is also often conflated with sexual orientation, but this is inaccurate. Gender identity does not cause sexual orientation. For example, a masculine woman is not necessarily a lesbian.

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Gender-Neutral - Nondiscriminatory language to describe relationships—e.g. “spouse” and “partner” are gender-neutral alternatives to the gender-specific words “husband,” “wife,” “boyfriend” and “girlfriend.”

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Gender Queer (or Genderqueer) - A person who redefines or plays with gender, or who refuses gender altogether. A label for people who bend/break the rules of gender and blur the boundaries.

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Gender Role - How “masculine” or “feminine” an individual acts. Societies commonly have norms regarding how males and females should behave, expecting people to have personality characteristics and/or act a certain way based on their biological sex.

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Gender-variant/Gender non-conforming - Displaying gender traits that are not normatively associated with their biological sex. “Feminine” behavior or appearance in a male is gender-variant as is “masculine” behavior or appearance a female. Gender-variant behavior is culturally specific.

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GSM - stands for "gender and sexual minority." An umbrella term to meant to refer to and include all people in the LGBTQI community that is slowly gaining popularity, similar to the changing acronym in some places of GSA to "gender and sexuality alliance."

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Heteronormativity - The cultural bias in favour of opposite-sex relationships of a sexual nature, and against same-sex relationships of a sexual nature. Heteronormative practices or techniques are multiple and organise categories of identity into hierarchical binaries. This means that man has been set up as the opposite (and superior) of woman, and heterosexual as the opposite (and superior) of homosexual. Heteronormativity thus is damaging to people in many different groups.

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Heterosexuality - Sexual attraction to a sex other than your own. Commonly thought of as “attraction to the opposite sex” but since there are not only two sexes (see intersex and transsexual), this definition is inaccurate.

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Heteroromantic - Romantic and/or emotional attraction to a gender other than your own. Commonly thought of as “attraction to the opposite gender” but since there are not only two genders (see "gender identity"), this definition is inaccurate.

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Heterosexism - Assuming every person to be heterosexual therefore marginalizing persons who do not identify as heterosexual. It is also believing heterosexuality to be superior to homosexuality and all other sexual orientations.

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Heterosexual Privilege - Benefits derived automatically by being (or being perceived as) heterosexual that are denied to homosexuals, bisexuals, and queers.

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Homonormativity - Norm that takes it for granted that everybody with any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (homosexual) connection is and act as if they were homosexual. Homosexuals are commonly defined as: persons who are attracted to individuals of the same gender; any person illustrating any homosexual norm or stereotype to be homosexual. The same problems apply with homonormativity as with heteronormativity; it can marginalize or punish persons who do not exhibit stereotypically "gay" behavior.

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Homophobia - The irrational fear and intolerance of people who are homosexual or of homosexual feelings within one's self. This assumes that heterosexuality is superior.

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Homoromantic - Emotional or romantic attraction to persons of the same gender

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Homosexuality - Sexual attraction to persons of the same sex.

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Intersex - Intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that feature congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system. That is, intersex people are born with "sex chromosomes," external genitalia, or internal reproductive systems that are not considered "standard" for either male or female. The existence of intersexuals shows that there are not just two sexes and that our ways of thinking about sex (trying to force everyone to fit into either the male box or the female box) is socially constructed.

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In the Closet - Keeping one's sexual orientation and/or gender or sex identity a secret.

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Invisible Minority - A group whose minority status is not always immediately visible, such as some disabled people and LGBTQIIQ people. This lack of visibility may make organizing for rights difficult.

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Lambda - The Gay Activist Alliance originally chose the lambda, the Greek letter "L", as a symbol in 1970. Organizers chose the letter "L" to signify liberation. The word has become a way of expressing the concept "lesbian and gay male" in a minimum of syllables and has been adopted by such organizations as Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

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Lesbian - A woman who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to other women.

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MTF/M2F - Male-to-Female Transsexual.

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Out (of the closet) - Refers to varying degrees of being open about one’s sexual orientation and/or sex identity or gender identity.

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Panromantic - An emotional and/or romantic orientation characterized by romantic attraction toward any gender.

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Pansexual - A person who is fluid in sexuality.

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Polyamory - The practice of having multiple open, honest love relationships. 20

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Queer - An umbrella term to refer to all LGBTQI people. A political statement, as well as a sexual orientation, which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid. A simple label to explain a complex set of sexual behaviours and desires. For example, a person who is attracted to multiple genders may identify as queer. Many older LGBTQI people feel the word has been hatefully used against them for too long and are reluctant to embrace it.

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Rainbow Flag - The Rainbow Freedom Flag was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker to designate the great diversity of the LGBTQI community. It has been recognized by the International Flag Makers Association as the official flag of the LGBTQI civil rights movement.

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Sex Identity - The sex that a person sees themselves as. This can include refusing to label oneself with a sex.

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Sexual minority - Refers to members of sexual orientations or who engage in sexual activities that are not part of the mainstream. Refers to members of sex groups that do not fall into the majority categories of male or female, such as intersexuals and transsexuals.

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Sex (versus gender) - Refers to a person based on their anatomy (external genitalia, chromosomes, and internal reproductive system). Sex terms are male, female, transsexual, and intersex. Sex is biological, although social views and experiences of sex are cultural.

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Sexuality - The deep-seated direction of one's sexual (erotic) attraction. It is on a continuum and not a set of absolute categories. Sometimes referred to as affection orientation or sexuality. Sexual orientation evolves through a multistage developmental process, and may change over time.

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SRS - Acronym for Sexual Reassignment Surgery, the surgery done by transsexuals to make their bodies and their sex identity match.

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Straight - Person who is attracted to a gender other than their own. Commonly thought of as “attraction to the opposite gender,” but since gender does not exist solely on a binary (see "transgender"), this definition is inaccurate. 21

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•

Transgender - Transgender (sometimes shortened to trans or TG) people are those whose psychological self ("gender identity") differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. To understand this, one must understand the difference between biological sex, which is one's body (genitals, chromosomes, etc.), and social gender, which refers to levels of masculinity and femininity. Often, society conflates sex and gender, viewing them as the same thing. But, gender and sex are not the same thing. Transgender people are those whose psychological self ("gender identity") differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. For example, a female with a masculine gender identity or who identifies as a man. An umbrella term for transsexuals, cross-dressers (transvestites), transgenderists, gender queers, and people who identify as neither female nor male and/or as neither a man or as a woman. Transgender is not a sexual orientation - transgender people may have any sexual orientation. It is important to acknowledge that while some people may fit under this definition of transgender, they may not identify as such.

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Transgenderist - A person who lives either full time, or most of the time, in a gender role different than the role associated with their biological or chromosomal sex (a gender non-conformist).

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Transition - A complicated, multi-step process that can take years as transsexuals align their anatomy with their sex identity; this process may ultimately include sex reassignment surgery (SRS).

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Transphobia - Fear or hatred of transgender people; transphobia is manifested in a number of ways, including violence, harassment and discrimination.

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Transsexual - Transsexual refers to a person who experiences a mismatch of the sex they were born as and the sex they identify as. A transsexual sometimes undergoes medical treatment to change his/her physical sex to match his/her sex identity through hormone treatments and/or surgically. Not all transsexuals can have or desire to have surgery.

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Triangle - A symbol of remembrance. Gay men in the Nazi concentration camps were forced to wear the pink triangle as a designation of being homosexual. Women who did not conform to social roles, often believed to 22

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be lesbians, had to wear the black triangle. The triangles are worn today as symbols of freedom, reminding us to never forget. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, nor do we assume that the definitions included in this list cannot be disputed; no offense is meant in defining the above terms. If an inconsistency is found, a term is found that is not included in this list, or a definition is considered to be offensive, please don't hesitate to inform us. For more information about LGBTQI definitions please visit: •

Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network

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Consortium of Higher Education LGBTQI Professionals

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Stonewall glossary terms

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Who this pack is for Main user groups: Advisers and support workers working with LGBTQI clients across England and Wales Other user groups: anyone who has an interest in providing community learning

Acknowledgments Thanks to all who contributed. Their expertise and guidance was invaluable.

Updates Although every care has been taken to ensure that this pack is accurate at the time of delivery, many of the areas contained within will evolve and change over time. This means that there may be short periods where the information in this toolkit will require updating. All the Citizens Advice financial capability toolkits will be subject to regular reviews to ensure that these occasions are kept to a bare minimum.

Feedback We’d be happy to get your feedback on this toolkit, and in fact on any of the financial capability resources. You can email us at [email protected]

Copyright Copyright © 2016 Citizens Advice. All rights reserved. Any reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited except with the express written permission of Citizens Advice.

Company information Citizens Advice is an operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Charity registration number 279057, VAT number 726020276, Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered number 1436945 England. Registered office: Citizens Advice, 3rd Floor North, 200 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD.

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