2SLGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and other non-cisgender and non-straight identities that are not included in the acronym (2SLGBTQ+) individuals often experience discrimination and prejudice due to intolerance, ignorance and myths about human differences in terms of gender and sexual identity. Meaningful participation in society is severely impaired when the fear of persecution, discrimination and constant stigmatization compromise an individual's mental well-being.
This is a significant problem globally, as 2SLGBTQ+ individuals continue to be persecuted in many countries around the world. As of 2019, Sixty-nine countries criminalize same-sex relations, and same-sex sexual activity is punishable by death in 11 countries (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, 2019) (Government of Canada, 2020). In several other countries, people found to be 2SLGBTQ+ can be killed for the honour of the family, executed without legal authority or hurt in many other ways.
Canada offers refugee protection to people who demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on their sexual orientation (CIC, 2012) (Government of Canada, 2020) (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2021). From 2013 to 2015, about 2,400 individuals were approved for asylum to Canada on the basis of sexual and gender minority status; this group has a higher successful rate than other types of refugee claims (Molnar, 2018). In addition, in 2019 Canada established the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership, designed to support Canadian privately-sponsored 2SLGBTQ+ refugees who are fleeing violence and persecution (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2019).
Terminology
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Gay
refers to a boy/man whose primary sexual orientation is toward other boys/men.
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Lesbian
A girl/woman whose primary sexual orientation is toward other girls/women.
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Bisexual
Someone whose sexual orientation is toward men and women.
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Transgender
Refers to someone who does not conform to society's gender norms of masculine/feminine.
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Trans and transpeople
are non-clinical terms that usually include transgender and other gender-variant people.
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Two-spirit
is an English word used by First Nation and other Indigenous peoples for those in their cultures who are gay or lesbian, intersex, transsexual or transgender or who have multiple gender identities.
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Intersex people
possess some blend of male and female physical sex characteristics.
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Queer
is a formerly derogatory slang term used to identify 2SLGBTQ+ people. Some members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community have embraced and reinvented this term as a positive and proud political identifier when speaking among and about themselves.
(Barbara et al., 2007)
Service providers may want to be flexible in their language use, allowing clients to “name themselves” and affirm those identities named (Abramovich & Shelton, 2017; Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, 2012; Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, 2013).