Upcoming Events

Alice Ferrari, I am a 3rd year PhD student at University of Nottingham.  I am an ESRC-funded social researcher working at the intersections of queer reproduction and mental health and wellbeing. My research explores the mental health and wellbeing of gay/bi+ men who pursue surrogacy as a pathway to family building. I am interested in both qualitative and creative methods to centre lived experience, surface structural drivers of marginalisation, and co-produce practical recommendations with communities for practitioners and policymakers. Other academic interests include LGBTQ+ family-making practices, perinatal mental health, reproductive justice and surrogacy reform.   

September 24th 2026 4-5pm (UK time) 

Registration link: X

Abstract

Surrogacy is fast becoming a popular form of family building in the UK and worldwide, particularly for gay/bi+ men in same-sex male couples and singles. Whilst surrogacy has incentivised the reproductive freedom and autonomy of gay/bi+ men, it also can involve an emotional toll due to its medicalised nature, prohibitive costs, the surrounding legal uncertainty, social hostility, and the lack of LGBTQ+ inclusive care within maternity care and fertility clinics. However, their emotional experience remains under-explored, with gaps in the understanding of UK surrogacy pathways and their specific challenges and what the emotional toll posed by such challenges looks and feels like.

Combining queer theory and hermeneutic phenomenology, this study asks how gay/bi+ perceive and make sense of their mental health and wellbeing during their surrogacy journeys and how the structural, social and service related challenges shape the emotional experience of gay men in the UK.

This talk will illuminate the inequalities gay/bi men experience during their surrogacy pursuits and identify their unique needs in relation to the care they receive, the legal set up and the social structures around them. The aim is to inform healthcare practice and policies recommendations surrounding surrogacy to improve the wellbeing of gay/bi (+) men who embark on this journey. Another aim is to contribute to a timely debate surrounding surrogacy practices, increasingly in the public eye and object of negative public opinions, debunking myths and misconceptions.

Trans and Non-Binary Youth Forum

Susie Bower-Brown is a Lecturer in Social Psychology at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, University College London. Susie is a social psychologist, whose interdisciplinary qualitative research explores LGBTQ+ identities and diverse family forms. Susie is currently leading Family Beyond the Binary, a multi-method project exploring the family experiences of non-binary individuals in the UK, funded by an ESRC New Investigator Grant

Peter Dunne is an Associate Professor at the University of Bristol School of Law. Peter’s research explores the intersections of gender, sexuality and law. Peter is currently undertaking a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2022-2029) on the theme: Trans(Forming) Family Justice: Respecting Trans and Non-Binary Identities in the Family Law of England and Wales. Peter’s work has a strong policy focus, and he regularly works with policy actors, such as institutions of the European Union and the Council of Europe. 

Kate Marston is a Lecturer in Education in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Their research focuses on gender and sexual diversity in childhood and youth and young people’s digital cultures. A core strand of their work explores how co-produced creative, visual and arts-based methodologies can unlock a range of embodied, material, spatial and affective experiences with gender and sexuality. Their teaching and research is driven by a passion for creating social change for gender and sexual justice within and through education.

October 29th 2026 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration link: X 

Abstract

This seminar introduces the results of the Trans and Non-Binary Youth Forum (TNBYF) in England and Wales. The TNBYF is an inter-disciplinary, multi-year (2023-2028) and multi-jurisdictional initiative, which explores the needs, experiences and priorities of a group of trans and non-binary young people, aged 14-17 years, across seven countries in Europe.

In recent years, the lives and identities of trans and non-binary children have become a growing source of legal, political and social contestation. Yet, despite increased discussion about the rights of these young people, the voices of trans and non-binary youth themselves are too often absent from public and political conversations.

Within that context, the TNBYF seeks to highlight the opinions, experiences and needs of a group of trans and non-binary young people, aged 14-17 years, living in seven European countries. Designed and delivered in collaboration with 11 queer youth organisations across Europe, the project invites participants to engage in a series of creative and participatory workshops, emphasising participant choice and a diversity of methodologies.  

In this seminar, the project researchers (Bower-Brown, Dunne and Marston) introduce key findings from the first stage of the TNBYF in England and Wales (2025-2026) – which engaged 27 young people across five workshops in four different geographical regions. The seminar explores project logistics and design, key themes from group discussions, and the range of creative outputs produced by participants. The seminar will also outline ongoing research initiatives in six other European countries.

Attendees will not only gain a critical insight into the (sometimes oppositional) ways in which this group of trans and non-binary youth want their lives and identities to be understood by different stakeholders, but they will also come to appreciate the complex ways in which these young people seek to navigate and survive the shifting social context(s) surrounding gender identity and gender diversity in England and Wales.

Could telecommuting buffer the negative impact of discrimination on LGB employees’ willingness to continue working? 

Yerong Zhao (She/her) received her Ph.D. in Sociology at Tohoku University in 2025. Her research focuses on gender and sexual inequality, labor markets, and employment.  

March 25th 2027 4-5pm (UK time) [TBC]

Registration link: X

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees in Japan shifted to telecommuting. Although previous studies have examined discrimination against LGB employees in Japanese workplaces before COVID-19, the impact of discrimination, derogatory speech, and LGBT-supportive policies on LGB employees’ willingness to continue working in the context of telecommuting remains unexplored.  

This study analyzed data from the 2020 Niji VOICE survey using ordered logistic regression. Drawing on social presence theory, the analysis examined whether telecommuting weakens the effects of workplace discrimination, derogatory speech, and LGBT-supportive policies on LGB employees’ willingness to continue working.  

The findings provide little evidence that telecommuting buffers the negative effects of discrimination and derogatory speech on LGB employees’ willingness to continue working. Instead, telecommuting appears to weaken the positive effect of LGBT-supportive policies, possibly because reduced policy visibility and greater professional isolation limit employees’ awareness of and access to organizational support.  

The findings may inform policymakers in developing and implementing anti-discrimination policies within organizations. The company should consider supportive policies better applicable to LGBT when the work style is shifted to telecommuting.

The Invisibility Coat: how LGBTQ+ Healthcare Professionals Navigate their Identity at Work and why it Matters.

Mara Pieri, Centre for Social Studies – University of Coimbra. Sociologist and Permanent Assistant Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra. She is currently leading the research projects "PULSAR - The role of LGBTQ+ professionals for inclusive healthcare" (2025-2026), financed by FCT, and “CLICK - Connecting Families, Educators and Policymakers to Improve the Well-being of LGBTIQ Children through an Intersectional Approach" (2025-2027), financed by the European Union. She has published on LGBTQ+ issues, sociology of health and crip studies, with a focus on chronic illness, (in)visibility and health inequalities.

May 27th 2026 4-5pm (UK time) [TBC]

Registration link: X

Abstract

Healthcare inequalities affect LGBTQ+ people when they access healthcare. Research shows that discrimination, stigma, and invisibility affect both patients and healthcare professionals. A recent multi-method study conducted in Portugal with LGBTQ+ healthcare providers shows that they face obstacles and challenges at all stages of their careers and across different professions. The study aimed to explore healthcare professionals’ experiences of navigating their identities at work, their relationships with patients, and the narratives surrounding the workplace. Through qualitative interviews analysed using thematic analysis, the study brings to the surface several interesting layers regarding the management of visibility at work. Healthcare professionals report challenges arising from abuse and discrimination in interprofessional relationships. They also tend to manage their visibility according to the position they occupy within the professional hierarchy. However, according to interviewees, decisions about visibility mostly concern relationships with colleagues and superiors, whereas in relationships with patients, a code of invisibility appears to be more prevalent. The study highlights how including healthcare professionals in actions aimed at promoting the well-being of LGBTQ+ people in healthcare is fundamental, and how any policy aimed at tackling inequalities in healthcare should actively involve healthcare professionals.

This work was funded by the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, through national funding in the context of project “PULSAR-The role of LGBTQ+ professionals for inclusive healthcare” (ref. 2023.12640. PEX)