At this week's cabinet meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council Conservatives threw out a Green Party proposal for funding for the Trust. The issue had previously won a majority of votes at a full council meeting. The cabinet is composed entirely of Tory councillors.
The Albert Kennedy Trust specialises in working with young homeless people from the LGBT community and is renowned in London and Manchester for the specialism it brings to this area.
Phelim Mac Cafferty on behalf of LGBT Greens stated:
"We know that of the population who live on the streets or in temporary accommodation and who are young and LGBT are statistically more likely to self-harm. The Tories have effectively signed a charter to continue crushing the needs of this socially fragile group.
"The decision to exclude Albert Kennedy Trust- again- is absolutely outrageous for innumerable reasons. This is a kick in the teeth for all young LGBTs: for the numbers of young LGBTs who live in our city and who face uncertainty and possible homeless in the current economic recession; and the disproportionate amount of young LGBTs still becoming homeless who migrate to Brighton. The Tory Cabinet has a duty of care to all of our city's citizens, which is sadly lacking. Again.
"Is it just more Tory heartlessness," concluded Phelim "for those on the fringes of society or is it just the homophobia that we were told had been driven from the Tory Party? Maybe it's both. LGBT Greens will continue to fight for homeless and voiceless LGBTs. The Tories have their work cut out if they think we will stop here."
"We are deeply disappointed the Tories could not bring themselves to vote for the £3,000 needed to bring the Trust into Brighton and Hove," said Cllr Bill Randall, the Green's council spokesperson on LGBT issues.
"It's barely a drop in the ocean for a council that will spend more than £700 million on services this year, and the return for the LGBT community and the city would far outweigh the cost. Local homeless charities and LGBT charities work very well with young LGBT people in Brighton and Hove, but none of them possess the expertise and understanding AKT has developed in its work with this very vulnerable group of young people in London and Manchester.
"The need for AKT's services in Brighton and Hove had been demonstrated by the Count me in too research project in the city." said Cllr Randall. "It's hard to fathom the Tories' implacable position on this issue. It makes no sense at all. Furthermore, they have paraded their contempt for democracy by rejecting a proposal voted for by the majority of councillors. We will not give up. The campaign to bring AKT to Brighton and Hove will continue."
NOTES TO EDITORS
(1) Albert Kennedy was 16 when he plunged to his death from the top of a car-park in Manchester 20 years ago. A runaway from a children's home, he was trying to escape from a gang of homophobic youths.
Set up in his name, the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) works in Manchester and London with young people aged 16 to 25 from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) community who are homeless or living in a hostile environment.
It provides a programme of training, policy advice, and practical support, which includes supported lodgings schemes, mentoring and befriending services.
(2) The report, Count me in too (LGBT lives in Brighton and Hove), which was published in 2008 by the Count Me In Too Project, the University of Brighton and Spectrum, revealed that more than 20 per cent of LGBT young people who moved to Brighton and Hove in the previous five years had been homeless in the city.
Many had experienced abuse, harassment or violence at the hands of a family member or someone close to them. 18 per cent told researchers they had traded sex for a roof over their head when they moved to the city.
The research also revealed that 57 per cent of those who had experienced homelessness in the city would like to see the introduction of specialist LGBT services for homeless people.
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