Welcome to the Barking and Dagenham Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Forum (LGBT) website. The website is for both forum members and anyone interested in finding out more about LGBT issues in Barking and Dagenham, across London and the world.

Between six and ten percent of the UK population identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, in Barking and Dagenham this would suggest that over 10,000 residents identify as LGBT.

LGBT people often experience discrimination, which is now illegal and the website includes information on how to contact the police about hate crimes, other places people can go for information on how to tackle discrimination in the workplace or in the provision of goods, services or facilities.

Research shows that LGBT people often experience additional mental health issues because of bullying, discrimination and harassment, this is particularly true for young LGBT people - young people are particularly at risk of suicide and self harm. We have included a section for parents on how to support a child when they "come out" as either lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans, plus a section for young people with lots of information on youth groups and networks across London where they can meet other LGBT youth.

Similarly growing old when you are LGBT can be very threatening and scary, especially if you are losing your independence and need social care or are considering moving into social care. We will be including a section particularly for older people with information on resources and agencies that might help both locally and nationally.

The website has a password protected area for members of the forum, to gain access to this section please follow the instructions on the Forum page.

The site is still developing and we hope that over time our local partners such as the police, local authority and primary care trust will be delivering pages of information on health, crime and social care, so keep checking back.