‘When housing is provided, but you have only the closet’. Sexual orientation and family housing support in Athens, Greece

Abstract

This article explores the impact of sexual orientation on the housing practices of individuals self-identified as LGB+ in Athens, Greece. In Greece, welfare state was always inadequate to cover people’s social needs. On the contrary, the family proved to be resilient as a welfare agent covering also the housing needs of its members by employing related strategies. The support comes ‘with strings attached’, and this includes parents’ demands and wishes upon the lifestyle of the dependent children. These demands have strong gender and sexual connotations imposing a heteronormative life trajectory, which may clash with the desires of LGB+ family members. In order for them to continue receiving support they are ‘pushed’ to employ strategies regarding their ‘coming out’ or sexual identity’s concealment process. In this paper, 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with a double focus: a. the housing pathway of the respondents, and b. the strategic decision of coming out or staying in the closet to benefit from the family welfare.