$450,000 FOR OUR SAFETY IS PATHETIC
Fae Johnstone says more help needed against homophobia and transphobia
Recently, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced $450,000 in federal funding to improve safety for LGBTQ2S+ Canadians. The funding will be used by Pride Toronto to engage in nationwide consultations and identify solutions to improve the safety of LGBTQ2S+ people across Canada.
While $450,000 might sound significant, it is in truth a pittance and falls far short of what LGBTQ2S+ communities need.
But more than that, we don’t need to spend another year talking about the problem; we need real federal action to improve the everyday realities of LGBTQ2S+ communities — particularly trans and racialized (and the intersections thereof ), as these are the LGBTQ2S+ people who are significantly more likely to experience harassment and violence. Twenty per cent of trans people have been physically or sexually assaulted for being trans and 34 per cent had been verbally threatened or harassed. Eighty three per cent of out trans people in Ontario avoid public spaces or situations because they fear harassment. Seventy per cent of trans and non-binary youth report experiencing sexual harassment. Trans people are not safe in public. This $450,000 is nowhere near sufficient to even begin addressing this problem on a national scale.
Furthermore, this funding is directed at engaging in consultation with LGBTQ2S+ communities and identifying solutions to the lack of safety experienced by LGBTQ2S+ communities, but in truth, we already know the solutions. We’ve built them. They’re programs, services and organizations, created and led by us, for us. In the face of homophobia and transphobia, our communities have come together to support each other and survive in a world which is toxic to us. We do not need another year of conversation; we need federal funding and leadership.
Almost every LGBTQ2S+ organization in this country — with the exception of the major LGBTQ2S+ organizations based in Toronto
— is doing the work on tiny budgets, usually led by volunteers, and doing their best to meet the diverse and complex needs of the populations they serve.
If we want to improve the safety of LGBTQ2S+ communities, we need to get serious about federal funding. We need grants to local community organizations to build their capacity and grow their programming. We need funding to scale up our public education initiatives so we can combat the homophobia and transphobia still all too prevalent amongst Canadians. We need programs to help build the capacity of local institutions and social services to deliver LGBTQ2S+ affirming care.
Maybe I’m a cynic — no, I most definitely am — but the bar has been set far too low for far too long. I don’t want to spend another year in discussion as my community suffers. I don’t want to see another government applaud its efforts on LGBTQ2S+ inclusion when those efforts continue to fall shamefully short of the funding and leadership we need.
As a transfeminine person, I can’t leave my apartment in downtown Ottawa without fearing for my safety. I get stared at and glared at on a daily basis. I get slurs directed at me, told I am disgusting, and grabbed by strangers. My community deserves to be safe — and $450,000 won’t make us any safer.
In truth, some money is better than no money. And we’ve always survived on scraps. But its 2018 and we’ve got a government that brags about its LGBTQ2S+ inclusion. Isn’t it time we expected better than the pity money we’ve become so used to, and got serious on meaningful change for LGBTQ2S+ communities? Fae Johnstone (she/they) is a trans community organizer and sexuality educator. She is a young professional in the sexual and reproductive health field with a background working with provincial and national non-profits focused on LGBTQ youth and child and youth mental health. Twitter.com/FaeJohnstone