Helen Lam | Contributor
Featured image: The LGBTQ+ community continues to face additional struggles this winter, as Toronto shelters offer limited and exclusive bed spaces, which remain inaccessible to those who belong to multiple marginalized groups. | Courtesy of Pexels
As temperatures drop, homelessness becomes dangerously serious for those within the GTA who don’t have warm shelter for the night.
The city’s 62 shelters are turning away the homeless due to a lack of space, and service providers are continuing to report an incredible demand for more beds. Miscommunication is being blamed for a lack of utilization of the remaining beds. Funding cuts have contributed to the lack of resources available, and as the housing crisis continues to worsen with the shelters’ inability to keep up with rising costs of residence, the LGBTQ2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, and Two-Spirit) community faces distinct challenges in regards to homelessness and shelter use.
For some youth, identifying as LGBTQ2S+ can be the very reason they face homelessness, as the familial conflict that can arise with coming out is often an integral factor of homelessness. This, in turn, exacerbates their risk of substance abuse and suicide.
The Homeless Hub, a web-based research library on homelessness, found that according to the City of Toronto Street Needs Assessment, 20 per cent of youth in the shelter system identify as LGBTQ2S+, and that LGBTQ2S+ homelessness is currently increasing. Social stigma isolates them to the point where many who identify as such hesitate to walk into shelters, due to foresight of abuse and discrimination.
Homophobic and transphobic violence often prevails in homes that are supposed to serve as welcoming havens during the season of extremely harsh weather.
LGBTQ2S+ individuals often find themselves trying to fit into a system that is too underfunded to address additional needs of those within minority groups. These kinds of structural issues can lead to a sense of alienation and fear of accessing housing, due to one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Sarah Rayner, a fourth-year Human Rights and Equity Studies student at York and internal coordinator of Trans, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Asexual at York, explains: “They are also at high risk of experiencing physical and emotional violence, mental and physical health issues, and sexual exploitation, thus specialized services are needed. Many shelters lack these services or proper staff training to address these issues, creating unsafe spaces for LGBTQ2S+ youth.”
To tackle this pressing issue, a number of new services have been added. On January 6, Moss Park Armoury became a temporary shelter, protecting up to 100 people out on the winter streets from the risk of hypothermia, and will be open to the public until January 29. The suggestion of opening the Armoury was first rejected by Toronto Mayor John Tory, until the public’s criticism and call for action led to the new temporary shelter being reconsidered and opened.
Tory has signed a letter to keep Toronto’s seven respite centres open beyond their scheduled date of closure, April 15.
Egale Centre, which will be Canada’s first federally-funded emergency and transitional housing facility to guard LGBTQ2S+ youth from hate crimes, will open in 2019, receiving $47,000 to install devices to enhance security.
Run by Egale Canada Human Rights Trust, a collective that stands for the rights and inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ folks, it will house up to 31 individuals under 29 years. The projected cost is $11 million. This organization will provide on-site counselling to help youths get off the streets and find employment to gain better stability in their lives.
However, LGBTQ2S+ homeless individuals still have to wait until next year to receive appropriate care, and while a step in the right direction, this alone does not have the capacity to house those in need.
Advocacy groups are developing strategies to target the largely unaddressed issue of homelessness among LGBTQ2S+ Torontonians.
Specialization and continued evaluation, through reliable methods, will be aimed at service agencies, which they can use to improve the chances of properly meeting the needs of LGBTQ2S+ people.
