A year ago, Sam's parents threw him out after he told them he was gay. "I'd never hidden it, but when I told them, it confirmed I didn't belong there," he says. "I have younger siblings and they said I was polluting their minds."
Sam was repeatedly turned away by a disinterested housing department, as he was over the "priority need" age of 17, resorting to sleeping on friends' sofas. Then, at his lowest point, when he felt he'd exhausted all of his options, he found a place of refuge and things started to change.
The 21-year-old is one of six residents at the UK's first "safe house" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people. Part of the Purple Door project run by LGBT homelessness charity Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), it provides emergency accommodation for homeless under-25s with nowhere else to go. Behind the facade of its detached period property, which has a discreet black rather than purple door, they get the support they need to rebuild their self-esteem and move on.
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