The contacts in these 18 years old to the toll-free number for homophobia and transphobia 800713713 Gay Help Line and Speakly.org chats have been over 350,000 since March 18, 2006, where we collected requests for listening and support from LGBT+ people, countering the effects of homophobic and transphobic prejudice thanks to a NETWORK work throughout Italy, which in 2016 also activated the first family home for young people LGBT+ Refuge victims of violence and discrimination and in 2021 Refuge T* “At Ornella’s House,” for trans, transgender, and non-binary people who have been victims of discrimination.
Recent data shows that homophobia and transphobia are not stopping, but the negative social impact of violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people is growing substantially:
Beyond 51% of contacts come from the youngest, who talk about their difficulties as LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) in their families or at school.
Among the people taken care of in our service, 41.6% experiences psychological or physical violence in the family as LGBT+. 17% of young people report having suffered the loss of support from family members, thus compromising their studies and training. Every year Of approximately 400 cases of young LGBT+ people kicked out of their homes, only 10% manages to find hospitality in family homes. protected as LGBT+ Refuge e Refuge T*, our facilities, which welcome LGBT+ people and support them through training and job searches.
In the last year I have Requests for guidance from parents and families of gender-variant girls increased by 50%, who asked for support to accompany them on the path to gender affirmation, requesting counseling and family mediation.
11.61% of contacts report discrimination in the workplace, particularly in the form of difficulties in obtaining jobs for trans people (8%) and high exposure to mobbing.
Hatred towards LGBT+ is on the rise, especially on social media, in fact, 5.71% of cases dropped out of school due to homophobic or transphobic bullying.
Gay Center, therefore, to combat these social phenomena, has been working for 18 years in many fields, collaborating with the National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) and the Observatory Against Discriminatory Acts (OSCAD) to combat violence and support the right to education with “"Rainbow Lab" to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools, or in health, in addition to a multitude of services and consultancy dedicated to victims as visible on www.gayhelpline.it .
The service is supported by Unar – Ministry of Equal Opportunities, the Lazio Region, the Municipality of Rome, the 8×1000 funds from the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai, the Waldensian Church and donations from companies and individuals.
Below is the video made with the 18th anniversary commercials of the Gay Help Line 800 713 713 service