There are potentially 4,000 Travellers on the  island of Ireland who are LGBTI+. Many LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma experience social exclusion on  a personal, familial and societal level, and specific LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma supports are few and  far between.

This research, ‘Unveiling Inequality – The Experiences of LGBTI+ Traveller and Roma’ is commissioned by the National Action Group for LGBT+ Traveller & Roma Rights, who formed with the goal of advancing greater awareness and understanding of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Intersex and other sexual identities (LGBTI+) Traveller and Roma and supporting their inclusion in organisations and in their communities. The study is gratefully supported by LGBT Ireland and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). This is a peer-to-peer participatory action research project that aims to unveil the isolation experienced by LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma, with the aim of creating an Ireland which is more LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma inclusive.

The research began in early 2021 and was completed in July 2022, and we understand it to be the largest study of LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma in Ireland to date. There were 57 engagements in total - 47 through an online survey tool, and 10 through focus-group discussions. Arts-based methodologies such as Photovoice and transcript poetry were used to help participants and communities more broadly engage with the findings. Some examples of participant Photovoice and poems are included throughout the research report. The full Spoken Word Project will be launched later in 2022/early 2023 both in physical spaces and virtually, to take this research off the page and into the public forum for discussion and debate.

The aim of the study ‘Unveiling Inequality - Experiences of LGBTI+ Travellers & Roma’, was  to explore, evidence and make visible the experiences of LGBTI+ Traveller and Roma. This was with the  view to enabling relevant services and stakeholders  to identify the actions that need to be taken to achieve inclusion.

The research report describes a community that experience racism within the mainstream Irish LGBTI+ community and services, as well as isolation due to a fear of or experience of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic discrimination and attitudes within their own ethnic communities. It also documents the considerable issues faced by LGBTI+ Traveller and Roma, such as isolation/lack of understanding from their communities, homelessness, lack of support/no support, being in heterosexual marriage (often with children), and exacerbated mental health issues. However, it also strives to capture the love and acceptance that some participating LGBTI+ Traveller and Roma describe as receiving from their families and loved ones. 

Unveiling Inequality - Experiences of LGBTI+ Travellers and Roma PDF (2MB)