It's Not Just About a Rainbow Lanyard

How Structural Cisnormativity Undermines the Enactment of Anti-Discrimination Legislation in the Welsh Homelessness Service

Bibliographic Data

ID2116357
AuthorsEdith England (0000-0001-9894-8323, Cardiff Metropolitan University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume53
Issue2
Pages366-385
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047279422000289
OpenAlexW4220968139
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited51

Trans people1 - those whose gender identity does not match that assigned to them at birth - are at considerably elevated risk of homelessness, reflecting their marginalized legal, bureaucratic and socio-economic status2. Recent substantial international expansion to the medico-legal rights afforded them operates in tension with cisnormative welfare structures. Based upon a Critical Discourse Analysis of interviews with 35 trans people with experience of homeless in Wales, UK, alongside 12 workers in the system, I argue that anti-discrimination legislation is insufficient in its current form to prevent discrimination against trans people. I suggest that, without addressing deeper structural cisnormativity, service provision for trans people experiencing homelessness and other forms of social marginalisation will remain inadequate. This argument rests upon the following findings. (1) Failing to consider exclusion at a structural level leads to system-gaps and misunderstandings, producing poor service experiences. (2) The specific needs of trans applicants are under considered in system planning, reducing scope for meaningful homelessness interventions. (3) An equalities approach can produce a reductive and potentially pathologizing focus upon trans identity, diverting from specific individual needs. I conclude that provision of inclusive services necessitates consideration of the impact of deep cisnormative assumptions in service design and delivery, and their resultant exclusion of trans people

Argument (complex analysis) · Bureaucracy · Business · Identity (music) · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Service (business) · Social exclusion · Sociology · Welsh · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Public Administration

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