The Double Bind of LGBTQ+ Inclusion in English Foster Care

LGBTQ+ young people are likely to be overrepresented in the English care system and face disproportionately high levels of placement instability, discrimination, and poor mental health. Foster carers are expected to provide safe and affirming care but do so within a system characterised by inconsistent training, limited guidance, and increasing political contestation around gender and sexuality. This study explores how foster carers in England experience and enact LGBTQ+ inclusion through qualitative interviews with fifteen foster carers conducted in 2025. Drawing on a critical realist methodology and informed by the work of Nikolas Rose, Pierre Bourdieu, and Sara Ahmed, the analysis identifies a structural double bind at the heart of contemporary fostering. Carers are responsibilised for delivering inclusive practice while simultaneously having their relational expertise undermined by professional hierarchies and inadequate institutional support. The findings further suggest that organisational responses, including LGBTQ+ awareness training, often function as symbolic rather than enabling interventions, increasing uncertainty rather than confidence. Where affirming care occurs, it relies primarily on carers' relational commitment, experiential learning, and support from individual allies rather than coherent organisational infrastructure. The article argues that improving outcomes for LGBTQ+ young people requires structural reform that embeds LGBTQ+ inclusion within national standards, professional learning, and institutional culture.