Homelessness and LGBTQ2 Young People

In April, Broadview, (formerly the United Church of Canada’s Observer), published an article on this concern.   Alex Abramovich  was interviewed for the article. He is a CAMH researcher and U. of T. professor and has been studying the young street-involved population in Canada for 10 years. As a result of his work, change is slowly beginning to happen.

Homophobia and transphobia at home and at school result in verbal and physical attacks which cause many LGBTQ2 youth to leave home. In the majority of shelters, they experience the same kinds of bullying and violence so that they resort to living on the street as a safer place.

Abramovich’s research has contributed to two significant actions: a shelter in Toronto being assigned as an LGBTQ2 youth shelter and the former provincial government of Alberta starting a committee for academics, government officials and leaders from youth service organizations to tackle the problem there. It is becoming clear that any attempt to deal with homelessness in our cities must address LGBTQ2 youth homelessness and the phobias and bullying that contribute to it. Continued progress will depend on the will of Canadians and, significantly, Canadian politicians, to support vulnerable minorities such as LGBTQ2 youth.

For the Broadview article and further readings see:
https://broadview.org/researcher-tackles-homelessness-among-lgbtq2-youth/

Sports and Intersex Athletes

In the news this past week, there has been a lot of talk about a south African runner named Caster Semenya. This article from CBC is helpful to understanding the issues involved.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/iaaf-caster-semenya-human-rights-1.5115453