One of the people who spoke out about the issues faced by LGBTI homeless people at yesterday’s Homelessness Inquiry hearing says as a community that is often invisible, our experiences regarding homelessness should not be forgotten. Kassie Hartendorp Kassie Hartendorp is a Youth Worker at Evolve Wellington Youth Service and presented alongside Ara Taiohi’s Anya Satyanand and Sandra Dickson at yesterday’s Cross-Party Homelessness Inquiry. She says the youth service is a one stop shop that currently has around 17,000 visits from young people each year. “We are seeing an increase in homelessness generally, and this includes sex, sexuality and gender diverse young people,” she says. “Our community's experiences should not be forgotten when national inquiries about homelessness are taking place, especially when our concerns have a history of being invisibilised or ignored. Yesterday’s presentation was the only LGBTI-related in-person submission to be given at any of the five hearings across the country. “As a community organisation, we see it as our responsibility to step up and make sure rainbow communities are heard and counted,” says Hartendorp. “The burden cannot just be placed on the small but significant groups and networks that currently support LGBTIQ people across Aotearoa. As long as stigma has existed, many of us have had to create new homes and families to survive. Ultimately, we should have a world where this does not need to happen. To work towards this, we hope to see nuanced conversation on what health and wellbeing should look like for our sex, sexuality and gender diverse communities across the board."