Possibility
LGBTQ+ young people may face limiting expectations about who they are or what they want to be. Feeling as though they have ‘failed’ to meet these expectations can lead to hopelessness, a risk factor for poor mental health. Services should celebrate diverse LGBTQ+ lives and support LGBTQ+ young people to feel hope for the future on their own terms.
What’s the problem?
Jem* (staff member) said “I’d say hope and aspiration are key to LGBTQ+ mental health. A lot of young people feel that because you’re LGBT there’s a lot of limits put on to you about goals and achievement and so on. It’s like, ‘oh, well you could go to university but you’re LGBT so that will be really hard for you’. You know it sort of labours that stuff.”