‘It’s really everyone’s responsibility’

OUTNiagara’s yearlong study examines strengths and needs of LGBTQ community

The document is undeniable.

With the information front and centre, there is no more running, and no more hiding.

That in itself “gives our community such strength,” said Kerry Goring, co-chair of OUTniagara.

“What I love about it, is that a lot of the time, very often, we feel voiceless and this was an opportunity for us to have our voices heard. And seeing it, I think, was just this validation and affirmation that is very, very powerful.”

Through a grant from Women and Gender Equality Canada, OUTniagara launched a yearlong study — led by its 20-member advisory group, OUT IN Niagara — to gather insight from Niagara’s LGBTQ community.

With online public surveys, two participatory mapping sessions, key informant interviews, focus groups, community conversations, feedback sessions, creative submissions and arts workshops, the newly released Community Strength and Needs Assessment Report has been a long process for all people involved.

Goring said the result is a “beautiful roadmap” to “create greater spaces for our queer and sexually diverse communities.”

It is also an opportunity to build on Niagara’s strengths, while also examining its weaknesses, and using the information to “move forward in a good way,” said OUTniagara co-chair Celeste Turner.

“There’s never been this kind of information in Niagara. There’s never been a big data poll like this and to really hear, collectively, the voices of Niagara’s 2SLGBTQ-plus community,” said Turner.

Broken down into a number of categories including health and health care, housing homelessness, violence and discrimination, and community and culture, each section has comments directly from community members. Key issues are identified and there are numerous recommendations.

A lack of social supports, relationships with police, racism in the workplace, homelessness and being bullied in shelters — the report is a deep dive into the experiences of Niagara’s sexually- and genderdiverse communities.

The report places focus on two priority communities — rural LGBTQ people and queer and trans Black, Indigenous and people of colour.

For both Turner, who works at Niagara Falls Community Health Centre, and Goring many of the report’s findings rural LGBTQ people “unfortunately and fortunately” rural LGBTQ people were not shocking.

“It isn’t surprising when you are a member of the queer community,” said Goring. “We’re very used to knowing … there are challenges from just simply being in, standing in, the queer community or accessing your queerness.”

Turner agreed.

“These are the things that when we gather, we complain about, we hear that,” they said. “Now, amplifying those voices and having it in a concrete document — like look, this is where we need to improve, this is where we need to go — is a really good thing.”

Turner said the number of people in rural communities who participated in the assessment was much lower than in other areas, whether that’s because it’s a smaller population or perhaps not feeling comfortable to live their “most authentic lives.”

Goring said in the area of health care, it was “eye opening” to learn there’s still work to be done.

“We have very few health-care practitioners who are knowledgeable, who understand and support the community, and understand the unique health-care concerns that may come across, especially for our trans folk,” said Goring.

But while there is a long list of work to do, there is also confidence.

“There’s this opportunity for us to start to address these issues in a very active, efficient (way),” said Goring. “There’s so much hope that I feel behind knowing these things, because knowledge is power.”

OUTniagara has a work plan in place for the next year, including releasing a PDF version of the report in the coming days, which people can print out, highlight and share with businesses and organizations.

“We’re going to do as much as our little organization can in making progress on this report, but we all have a responsibility. Even if your organization isn’t 2SLGBTQ-plus specific, it comes down even on an individual level — what are you dong?” said Turner. “There’s progress to be made. It’s really everyone’s responsibility collectively.”

The report is a call-in, not a callout.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, we just have to strengthen the wheel, and I think ... it’s a great opportunity to bring a cohesiveness to this region,” said Goring. “Not only do we have the information, we also have a plan, and with the plan we can truly build something magnificent.”