ISLAND’S TRANS POPULATION LACKS EMERGENCY SHELTER SUPPORT

Since it is Transgender Awareness Week, and Trans Remembrance Day is just around the corner, I feel it is imperative to broach social justice issues within the P.E.I. government’s release of the Findings of a Community Needs Assessment on Emergency Shelters. In documenting the current emergency shelter situation on P.E.I., this report barely skimmed the surface of the 2SLGBTQ+ community’s needs in their recommendations. As stated in the report, trans individuals only have one shelter that will accept them, and non-binary individuals are accepted at two shelters.

As of now, there are no shelters that are specifically designated for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals on the Island. The 2SLGBTQ+ population is one of the most susceptible to homelessness in Canada. Emergency shelters can be dangerous and an invalidating space for members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, especially for transgender and non-binary individuals who are often rejected by shelters because they do not fit into the gender binary and the cisnormative institutional framework of our society. These concerns were not covered in the aforementioned report, nor did their recommendations offer/ include a plan to create 2SLGBTQ+ safe spaces or shelters.

Should 2SLGBTQ+ friendly infrastructures be instilled, I think this — and other acts of inclusive policy –— could help ameliorate our community from feeling like an institutionally invisible population.

The report’s recommendations section could be improved by: providing extra funding for existing shelters that are friendly, housing 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in hotels until proper housing can be secured and working with community partners to identify the housing needs of the community.

When people are focused on securing basic human rights, like food and shelter, the last thing they need to be worrying about is safety or acceptance in regard to their gender or sexual orientation. P.E.I. has the opportunity to lead Canada in reversing homelessness and truly serving our 2SLGBTQ+ populace. The question is will we?

Anastasia Preston, Charlottetown