Charity wants to hear islanders' LGBT experiences

A charity has asked to hear from Channel Islands LGBTQ+ community amid a rise in what it called "hate".

Equality campaign group Liberate has launched the Channel Islands LGBTQ+ Community Survey with the aim of gathering the first comprehensive data set about local LGBTQ+ lives.

Ellie Jones, CEO of Liberate Guernsey, said: "Other places like the UK and US are obviously really bad at the minute, and things we're hearing about here are mostly anecdotal so we wanted to get a proper understanding."

The charity said using LGBTQ rights group Ilga-Europe's criteria, Guernsey would be 32nd out of 50 European jurisdictions as it lacked some basic equality legislation compared to most of Europe.

Jones said: "We have been seeing more instances of dehumanisation, hate, and exclusion of LGBTQ+ people the past couple years, mostly coming from UK and US politics and media.

"The knock-on effect of this imported rhetoric locally is very obvious when you overhear conversations or look at local comments on social media."

Liberate said in December the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported 3.7% of people aged 16 or over identified as LGB in the UK.

It said based on the population figures from Statistics Jersey and Guernsey's Facts and Figures booklet, if the islands were in line with the ONS figure it predicted more than 6,000 Channel Islanders were LGBTQ+.

"Since we know a lot of LGBTQ+ people leave the Channel Islands, we wanted to keep it (survey) open to all channel islanders, even if you've left," Jones said.

Liberate Guernsey added a UK government petition would also be open during Pride month to launch a public inquiry into the impact of Section 28.

Jones said: "Pride Month is still necessary because, despite some advancements, Section 28 is still so recent and its impacts are still strongly felt - particularly for those of us who lived through it.

"Unfortunately, our human rights are still under threat. Erasure and inequality still exist. As does massive stigma, misconceptions, and scapegoating.

"We are under attack again and still can't just exist in peace and dignity."

Survey respondents could choose to be included in a prize draw for tickets to Channel Islands Pride 2026 events, the charity added.

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