Sense of safety and belonging amongst Huron-Perth 2SLGBTQIA+ residents needs to be prioritized

United Way Perth-Huron’s (UWPH) latest report on experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ residents revealed there is more work to be done to ensure the safety and inclusion of the community.

UWPH released the report from their social research and planning council on Feb. 4 and showed that several 2SLGBTQIA+ residents of Huron and Perth counties face high rates of discrimination, isolation and feel unseen and disconnected with the community at large.

Around 60 per cent of 2SLGBTQIA+ respondents either somewhat or strongly agreed with statements like “I feel like I belong” or “I feel accepted” in the community, with nearly 43 per cent somewhat or strongly disagreeing with the statement “I feel safe” in the community.  Additionally, about 19 per cent of those with connections to Stratford strongly felt that they were accepted by the community, compared to nearly five per cent in Perth County and 4.5 per cent in Huron County.

Around three-quarters of survey respondents said they witnessed discrimination towards the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, with more than half of respondents’ part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community experiencing discrimination.

Those in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who left the area had at least one of five common reasons for moving, including no sense of belonging (42.6 per cent), inability to express their identities (41.2 per cent), not enough 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the community (39.7 per cent), not enough services for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community (36.8 per cent) and that they did not feel safe (30.9 per cent).

"It is important to understand how people experience our communities differently and identity and experience that we have may differ from somebody else's and information like this allows you to hear statements of how people have been impacted and perhaps develop great understanding and empathy towards other community members and look at ourselves and think about what we could be doing in our daily lives to improve the community for everybody,” said Kristin Crane, director of community impact and research.

In partnership with the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Design and Rural Development and the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute, the local United Way had nearly 200 people participate in online surveys, workshops, and interviews. Participants were either current residents of the region or had lived there within the past five years.

The report recommended that moving forward, there needs to be a prioritization of creating safe spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, social opportunities that are accessible throughout the year, visible pride symbols and inclusive practices within community organizations and public spaces, and training and education about 2SLGBTQIA+ identities. Crane noted that schools are already making progressive steps forward in their curriculum and in the educational environment. However, there’s room for improvement in the greater community.

“When you read the report, you see that people aren’t really asking for anything for the most part that’s very in depth. It's just having safe spaces to just engage in typical social activity. It could be board games. It could be listening to music. It's just your typical things,” Crane said. “People are looking for more opportunities to do that in safe spaces where they can participate and that's sometimes with 2SLGBTQ community members but just with the community at large.”

To read the full report online, visit https://perthhuron.unitedway.ca/research.