The Outside Project is a LGBTIQ+ homeless shelter, community centre and support service. We met Harry Gay, Campaigns Manager, and a community activist who has previously worked with refugees and in local action groups. ⁠

Homelessness has been a long-neglected problem for decades. Cuts to social services and growing inequalities have seen numbers rise. Yet the Coronavirus pandemic prompted funding from national and local governments. But what will happen beyond the pandemic? And if funding could be made available now, why was more not being done before to tackle the issues that see people pushed to the fringes of society? ⁠

In this episode, Harry also discusses the particular challenges that see many from the LGBTIQ+ community end up homeless. Discrimination in the home is a particular consequence of homophobia and LGBTIQ+ people face further challenges in accessing homelessness services. ⁠

As well as being a campaigner, Harry is a DJ. As Pride celebrations take place in new and reinvigorated forms around the world, we talk to Harry about the limitations of commercialised Pride, and the Queer House Party, which he set up online with DJ friends to bring people together in these uncertain times. ⁠

Follow Harry on Instagram and Twitter. Follow the Outside Project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or learn more at lgbtiqoutside.org. Follow the Queer House Party on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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Read a full transcript of this episode on our website

Produced and recorded by Rena Niamh Smith. Theme music by Benjamin Tassie. Artwork by Fleur Beck. Sound engineering by Gibran Farrah. Consultation by Ben Weaver-Hincks. Original illustrations and social media editing by Charlotte Rose Watts. Special thanks to Chloe Vasseghi