Independent LGBT charity forum+ is marking two decades of work dedicated to promoting gender and sexuality equality in Camden and Islington. The charity is asking people to send in their memories of how forum+ has touched their life, whether they were personally supported, attended the events or volunteered. “It is a bit of a retrospective of the work over the last 20 years,” explained Tessa Havers-Strong, the charity director.
Originally named Camden LGBT forum+, the charity was set up in 2002 following a homophobic hate crime that took place in the area. One of the founders was keen to encourage engagement between the community, police and local authorities to help prevent these attacks. In 2004 it became incorporated as a charity, since which it has supported victims of homophobic, transphobic and biphobic hate crime.
As well as providing support for victims, the charity hosts events throughout the year and provides LGBT awareness training for statutory bodies such as the police, local businesses and organisations. Through this training they talk about the lived experiences of the LGBT community and the challenges it faces due to prejudice.
Havers-Strong is a trans woman, to do work. She said: “Over the years I got to know forum+ and then in 2018 I was offered the post of director.”
While Havers-Strong has not experienced transphobia herself, she said she knew a lot of people who had. “I don’t know why I haven’t experienced it,” she said. Yet she acknowledged that her living conditions place her in a less vulnerable position. She explained: “I don’t live in poverty. When I came to forum+, it was about giving something back.”
Seeking support at forum+
A lot of people seeking support at forum+ come from marginalised communities and are living in poverty, are unemployed or suffering from mental health issues. These factors can contribute to someone being a target of hate crime due to their increased vulnerability.
Despite only being a team of three, with the help of their board of trustees and a group of volunteers, forum+ is having a huge impact. Before lockdown, the total engagement from individual support, events and training was 6,000 people a year. Havers-Strong said: “Our events during LGBT History month and Pride make up a big chunk of this.”
Encouraging changes
Havers-Strong said she has seen encouraging changes since she started at the charity in 2007. “There have been huge legislative changes. Since forum+ started,” she explained, “Section 28 was repealed in 2003, then there was the Civil Partnerships Act and Gender Recognition Act in 2004, the Equality Act in 2010 and the Same Sex Couples Act in 2013. Also, I think the understanding of the LGBT community has grown immensely, all those battles for equality have been won.”
The kinds of hate crime have also changed over the years, with the charity seeing far fewer cases of physical violence and more cases of anti-social behaviour and low-level discrimination. “When I first started, we used to get cases of people having been beaten up or robbed or mugged which was all homophobically motivated. But today we see more issues related to anti-social behaviour on housing estates.”
The director gave an example of someone repeatedly throwing rubbish into a member of the LGBT+ community’s garden as a type of lower level but chronic discrimination that still occurs. She said that sometimes these incidents will go on for a long time before anything is done. “Often these people fall between the police and council as these issues aren’t classed as serious enough to warrant action,” she said. Forum+ works with police and local authorities to find a way forward in these instances, which Havers-Strong said can be a slow process.
“There is work to be done, but we are making great strides”
The forum+ is also working within schools across Camden Borough as part of the Junior Citizenship Scheme to further promote respect and understanding for LGBT communities and other minority groups. Funded by Transport for London, the programme works with Year 6 pupils to improve understanding and acceptance.
In terms of the future, Havers-Strong is optimistic. “There is work to be done, but we are making great strides,” she said. “Forum+ is about empowering our communities to thrive, and so we are looking at having workshops where the community can understand the law and what the rights are.”
She said she hoped to work with the police, local authorities and council to see how they can improve services for LGBT communities. “This will provide a thriving and resilient LGBT community,” she concluded.
