Abstract
Although awareness and understanding of LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of homelessness are rising, their broader housing experiences remain under‐researched. This paper uses qualitative interview data to explore takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of housing instability in Aotearoa New Zealand. In expanding the focus to housing instability, this paper explores how LGBTIQ+ people experience and navigate the housing system, which sheds light on the upstream factors that contribute to the disproportionately high rates of homelessness amongst LGBTIQ+ communities worldwide. A reflexive thematic analysis of the data generated four themes to takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of housing instability; personal experiences are political, survival within inequitable systems is nuanced, instability is relational, and selfhood is mediated through instability. These results highlight the impact of policy and structural failures on LGBTIQ+ communities.
Public Significance Statement Housing instability is a significant issue amongst LGBTIQ+ communities, and sheds light on the factors contributing to disproportionate rates of homelessness amongst these communities. For participants, their experiences of housing instability were part of wider political choices and structures, which resulted in nuanced survival tactics. Instability was a deeply relational experience, and participants’ selfhood was mediated through their experiences of housing instability.