Why participate? An intersectional analysis of LGBTQ people of color activism in Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT The recent Black Lives Matter disruptions of Pride marches in Toronto and Montreal have brought to light a persistent conflict over the exclusion of people of color within LGBTQ movements in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere. Yet, they also reflect a recurrent form of organizing observed in these movements, namely the creation and mobilization of LGBTQ organizations formed around specific racialized identities. Using Canada and more specifically Montreal as a case study, this paper aims to understand what drives activists of color to engage in LGBTQ movements in general, and in particular within LGBTQ organizations formed around specific racialized identities. Previous work on social movement participation has underlined structural and identity-related processes that explain participation, such as networks, social ties, and collective identity. However, I argue that with its emphasis on marginalization and politically excluded identities, intersectionality as a theoretical framework is more suitable to fully grasp why activists of color participate in the Canadian LGBTQ movement today. Drawing from in-depth interviews conducted with 15 activists in Montreal, results show that experienced marginalization at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and race, shape structural and identity-related processes in specific ways, thereby acting as a driving force of social movement participation.