This is a research project that ran from September 2020 to September 2022. It was a collaboration between researchers from the Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender and the Brighton-based LGBTQ mental health charity, MindOut.

The project aimed to understand the significance of LGBTQ people’s migration histories and how they shape their experiences of mental health, loneliness/belonging and social isolation/inclusion. The project looked at both international and intra-national displacement and relocation, where sexuality and/or gender identity were factors in the move to Brighton.

We completed 30 interviews with sixteen LGBTQ people with lived experience of relocating to Brighton, experiencing loneliness, and using MindOut’s services. Alongside the in-depth interviews, we used creative methods, including inviting the participants to annotate maps of Brighton and to draw representations of their migratory journeys.

The project was interdisciplinary and was led by psychologist, Dr Zoë Boden-Stuart, with geographer Dr Nick McGlynn and MindOut’s then-CEO Helen Jones. The Research Officer was Matt C Smith.

• The final report ‘Pathways between LGBTQ migration, social isolation and distress: Liberation, care and loneliness’  was published on 28^th September 2022.
• A one-page summary of the research can also be accessed here.

The project was funded by the Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health Research Network, which is funded by UK Research and Innovation (Grant reference: ES/S004440/1) and their support is gratefully acknowledged. (Principal Investigators Professor Sonia Johnson & Dr Alexandra Pitman). For additional details,  refer to link.