Scott Douglas Jacobsen: “Queer,” as a term, means “someone with a non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity.” Within this umbrella term, according to the general mandate of Qmunity, what sub-populations become implicated in it?
Dara Parker: We welcome everyone under the rainbow umbrella that identifies, queer or trans, so anyone with a non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity, as you noted. Some of those identities within those communities would include gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, two-spirited, intersex, asexual, pansexual, gender, queer, and lots of words that we get to use to name ourselves.
And then, we’re also looking at the intersection of our gender identity and sexual orientation that we carry. For instance, being a person of color, or having a disability, or being a newcomer, et cetera.
Jacobsen: Approximately, how much of the British Columbian and Canadian general population might fit into this categorization of “queer”?
Parker: Well, that is a challenging question. A lot of people ask. A lot of people have various theories of response. The short answer is we do not count it in census data. We do not ask about sexual orientation. We ask about gender identity, but only in a binary concept, which is very limited in our perspective. You are still not capturing folks who are transgender versus cisgender.
We just don’t know. So there isn’t any countrywide survey data that accurately represents, and so you’re drawing conclusions from other indicators. You might look at how many people self-identify on a smaller-scale survey. And you get varying ranges of answers from that. I would suggest that it is an underreported population because there is still fear of discrimination, a fear of being out.
And so when you are asking folks to report, they might not be fully answering. And the studies that do exist, if you compare self-reporting versus behaviors, so for example, a man who has sex with a man who does not identify as gay. That is my long answer that does not give a number
Jacobsen: Qmunity provides a number of support services including Bute Street clinic, counseling, naturopathic clinic, older adult services, referrals, support groups, and youth services. What remains the greatest importance of these services in unison through Qmunity?
Parker: Ultimately, we exist to improve queer and trans lives. And I think there are multiple pathways to doing that. And so we like to think we do our work in four pillars. We believe in meeting individual needs and empowering people where they’re at by providing direct support.
So, for example, that would be something like the counselling program, the naturopathic clinic, or our peer-facilitated support group, but we also believe that sometimes just having physical space is critically important to building healthier lives, and so we provide meeting rooms, and volunteer opportunities in our centre, as well as coming out special events like our queer prom and our honoring our elders tea in order to create spaces for people to connect and engage, and feel safe.
We also do a lot of education and training. So we go out into community, businesses, government, other service providers to provide workshops on how to create more inclusive spaces, and we develop our own resources. For example, our LGTBQ glossary, which you were perhaps quoting earlier, which provides tools for people on language, which is a tricky thing to navigate.
And then lastly, the media work that we do. We might be called on to share expertise around queer and trans lives. We consider that some of our advocacy work around raising visibility and providing queer expertise in the community.
Jacobsen: Of these provisions, what one gives the most services to the queer community?
Parker: It depends on how you’re measuring it. I would suggest that our youth program is our most active programs if you’re just looking at a number of participants. We have two weekly drop-ins that regularly serve between 40 and 60 youth that come from across Metro Vancouver, and sometimes beyond. So that’s one of the core programs that our organization offers.
Jacobsen: Qmunity hosts a number of events including Spring Fling (Adults 55+), International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Breakfast (Fundraising event), Honouring our Elders High Tea (Adults 55+), Queer Prom (Youth 14-25), Pride Parade (All ages), Gab Youth Summer and Winter Cabarets (Youth 14-25), Volunteer Appreciation Party (Active Volunteers), Stack the Rack (Fundraising event), and Holidays Celebration (Adults 55+).
How does bringing in every sector (age, gender, orientation, and so on) of the queer community provide the necessary environment of inclusion through Qmunity?
Parker: As an umbrella organization, we do serve a very diverse population. We try to provide opportunities for everyone in the community to come together. We also recognize there is a need to serve individuals of communities within the much larger community.
And so, we do a combination of both. Some of our programs are restricted by identity. We have women-specific programming, trans-specific programming, youth-specific programming, et cetera, cutting along various identity lines. And some of our programmings are open to everyone and encourages bringing various identities together to connect, share, engage, learn.
Jacobsen: In your speech entitled Reconciling Injustices in a Pluralistic Canada at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue, you said, “Canadians are fortunate to live in one of the most progressive countries in the world when it comes to queer rights. This is especially important in a world where being queer is a criminal act in 76 countries and punishable by death in 5 countries.”[16] With some of these statements from last year in mind, what near, and far, future seems most likely for the queer community internationally, nationally, and provincially?
Parker: Those contexts are very different when looking at both a policy and cultural perspective, and those two things intersect. So I think the differences will be extreme. The good news, I think, is we’re all headed in the right direction. I think, as evidenced by the SCOTUS decision. You know, there are many of my colleagues in the states who never thought they’d see marriage equality in their lifetime. And now, the US has declared marriage equality across all 50 states.
So that’s pretty exciting. I think we’re moving in the right direction, progress is being made toward more inclusion, more equity for queer and trans folks, and simultaneously, yes, there are many countries where it’s illegal to be gay and in 5 of those countries you can be punished by death. While I see the conversation shifting, even internationally, I think it’s happening much more slowly in some of those contexts.
And I also see that sometimes when progress happens in certain regions, for instance, the US recognizing that, there are places that are more regressive. There can be a backlash against that progression because people are afraid. In Turkey, the Pride Parade was canceled in Istanbul. I do not know why they did that, but it is interesting that as one region gains rights another used tear gas and rubber bullets to restrain a previously-approved Pride Parade in Istanbul.
I think we have to be conscious that there are communities that might suffer disproportionately when rights are gained in other areas. And then fundamentally, in contexts like Vancouver, BC, Canada, where the majority of our legal rights have been enshrined for over a decade, it doesn’t necessarily mean they translate into lived equalities. That is where our work is centered in taking those legislative changes and shifting the culture to raise the visibility, create more inclusion, safety, acceptance, et cetera.
Jacobsen: For those with an interest now or in the future, how can individuals donate, volunteer, become a member, or take action through Qmunity, or for the queer community in general?
Parker: A good place to start is the website. If you are new to the organization, you can find all of the details on some of the options you just listed: volunteering, donating, or getting involved in other ways. And I think a more general starting point is to learn and embrace [allies]. And that’s both for folks in our community and external too.
I think we all have the potential to be allies. As a white, cisgender, queer, able-body, Canadian, woman, I am an ally to almost everyone I work with. I am an ally to gay men, queer people of color, trans folk, et cetera. I think there’s an opportunity for all of us to do learning around our own communities and people we can be allies too, within, and outside our own communities.
We can do that by using the internet. (Laughs) There are an incredible number of resources out there in terms of articles, and films, and books. You know, to get to know culture outside your own, and learn how to be a good ally.
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Article originally published in on www.in-sightjournal.com and republished with permission from the author.
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