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I just think I don't exist as an LGBT person in this system: exploring the consequences of heteronormative citizenship assumptions for LGBTQ+ social security recipients 

Lee Gregory (he/him) Associate Professor in Social Policy at the University of Nottingham

Thursday 29th May 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here: https://forms.gle/oF1juTmR6GxHQoQDA  

Abstract

The development of welfare systems has relied heavily on a concept of citizenship to inform not only rights and responsibilities; but to also structure welfare across expected social norms of the life course. Despite growth in critiques of the concept of citizenship, the discipline of Social Policy has failed to appreciate a deeper, richness of experience of non-heterosexuals and non-cisgender people. Drawing on the concept of cishet-izenship (Gregory and Matthews; 2022) this paper examines data from the worlds first analysis of LGBTQ+ experiences of social security receipt to problematise the notion of citizenship that rests at the centre of welfare policy. Focusing on interactions with the bureaucracy (the process of applying for social security) and interactions with the bureaucrats (the face-to-face and online management of claims) we explore how queer people’s experiences of accessing social security in Great Britain reflects a mismatch between needs, diverse citizen lives and the assumptions that not only exist within the welfare system but held by welfare providers. Rather than having welfare needs met, LGBTQ+ people experience a diverse array of misrecognition, direct and indirect discrimination and stigmatising experiences as a result of not fitting into the expected citizenship norm. The analysis presents challenges to the historic normative assumptions embedded within welfare policy regarding the design and delivery of welfare systems and reflects on the misrecognition which results, despite advances in progressive equalities policy and practice. Consequently, the paper advances the problematisation of the concept of citizenship drawing on analysis of LGBTQ+ lived experiences of social security.