Abstract
Gender non-conforming and sexual minority youth are overrepresented in the homeless youth population and are frequently discriminated against in shelters and youth serving organizations. This paper provides a contextual understanding of the ways that institutional and governmental policies and standards often perpetuate the social exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 2-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) youth, by further oppression and marginalization. Factors, including institutional erasure, homophobic and transphobic violence, and discrimination that is rarely dealt with, addressed, or even noticed by shelter workers, make it especially difficult for LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness to access support services, resulting in a situation where they feel safer on the streets than in shelters and housing programs. This paper draws on data from a qualitative Critical Action Research study that investigated the experiences of a group of LGBTQ2S homeless youth and the perspectives of staff in shelters through one-on-one interviews in Toronto, Canada. One of the main recommendations of the study included the need for governmental policy to address LGBTQ2S youth homelessness. A case study is shared to illustrate how the Government of Alberta has put this recommendation into practice by prioritizing LGBTQ2S youth homelessness in their provincial plan to end youth homelessness. The case study draws on informal and formal data, including group activities, questions, and surveys that were collected during a symposium on LGBTQ2S youth homelessness. This paper provides an overview of a current political, social justice, and public health concern, and contributes knowledge to an under researched field of study by highlighting concrete ways to prevent, reduce, and end LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
Highlights
This paper provides a contextual understanding of the ways that institutional and governmental policies and standards often further oppress, marginalize, and perpetuate the social exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and 2-Spirit1 (LGBTQ2S) youth
Homosexuality was removed over 40 years ago, the DSM-5 still pathologizes and labels individuals who have identities that do not fit into the gender binary, with the label “Gender Dysphoria”, formerly named “Gender Identity Disorder (GID)” (Moran, 2013)
LGBTQ2S specialized housing programs are still not recognized as a priority in the majority of governmental policies, by supporting the development of LGBTQ2S specific housing options across the province, and developing the capacity for research that frames new approaches and solutions to gender and sexual diversity within the homeless youth population, the Government of Alberta has set a national standard for how to address the issue of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness
Summary
This paper provides a contextual understanding of the ways that institutional and governmental policies and standards often further oppress, marginalize, and perpetuate the social exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and 2-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) youth. Research, government, and community efforts to conduct homelessness counts and street-needs assessments left out important questions regarding LGBTQ2S identity, resulting in minimal understanding of the correlation between coming out and homelessness, the challenges that youth face in trying to form their gender and sexual identities, and the unique needs and challenges experienced by LGBTQ2S youth Another major challenge in accurately measuring the prevalence of LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness is the issue of hidden homelessness, which refers to individuals who do not access shelters or housing programs, but are living in precarious housing situations, such as couch surfing (Canadian Homelessness Research Network, 2012).
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