United With Pride: 2SLGBTQIA+ Intersectionality in Healthcare
June 21, 2024
Last week, Women’s College Hospital hosted its first ever Pride panel, United With Pride: 2SLGBTQIA+ Intersectionality in Healthcare – thank you to all those who joined! Featuring esteemed panel members from the Office of Indigenous Health in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at U of T, Pride Toronto and our very own Family Practice Health Centre, this virtual panel explored the challenges and triumphs intersectional members of the Queer community experience within our localized health system.
Missed the panel? No problem! You can watch the panel now:
Our panelists have each provided resources for further learning, allyship and action.
Dr. Chase Everett McMurren(he & they)
Dr. McMurren serves as the Indigenous Health Theme Lead in the MD Program and the Indigenous Practitioner Liaison within the Office of Indigenous Health in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and is the Chair of the Scientific Planning Committee for the Peer Connect Program at the Ontario College of Family Physicians & the Co-Chair of the National Consortium for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME) Working Group on Physician Wellness and Joy in Work.
You Are Made of Medicine – A Mental Health Peer Support Manual for IndigiQueer, Two-Spirit, LGBTQ+, and Gender Non-Conforming Indigenous youth.
CBRC Two-Spirit – Through the collective work of Indigenous partners, leaders, Knowledge Keepers, Community members and Elders, CBRC has been able to co-create a number of health and healing initiatives.
Two-Spirit – A CIHR Indigenous Gender and Wellness Initiative, exploring “Wellness in Two-Spirit Communities across Turtle Island: A Two-Eyed seeing approach to a gender-inclusive community-based 2S research network”.
Two Spirit Research Zine – Conversations with young Two-Spirit, Trans and Queer Indigenous People in Toronto.
Dr. Stratton is a family physician and Lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. After her family medicine training, she pursued an Enhanced Skills Program at the University of Toronto in 2SLGBTQ+ health and currently provides comprehensive primary care to patients at Women’s College Family Practice. Her clinical interest is in improving the care of 2SGLBTQ+ people, and in particular trans and gender diverse individuals. She is actively involved in teaching 2SLGBTQ+ care to medical students, residents and faculty.
Guidelines for Inclusivity – Academic Half Day Lectures – These guidelines are intended to be an introduction to the topics of inclusivity, anti-racism, and anti-oppression and how these concepts can be practically integrated into medical education.
Preceptor Guide– Facilitating Positive Learning Environments for Transgender, Non-Binary and Gender Non-Conforming Medical Students – By demystifying the trans experience, this guide hopes to offer insight into how to best support transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming learners, recognizing that they are, above and beyond all else, much like any other student.
The Health of LGBTQIA2 Communities in Canada – House of Commons report – The lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual and two-spirit (LGBTQIA2) communities in Canada experience numerous health inequities. That is why, between 28 February and 9 May 2019, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health undertook a study on the health of LGBTQIA2 communities and ways to reduce these health inequities.
Rainbow Health Ontario – This Resource Library aims to collect and share the most relevant and reliable 2SLGBTQ health resources for Ontario 2SLGBTQ communities, service providers and others with an interest in 2SLGBTQ health. Many resources are also available for purchase in the RHO Shop.
The Care We Dream Of – The Care We Dream Of weaves together the author’s essays on topics like queering health and healing, transforming the health system, kinship, aging, and death, alongside stories, poetry and non-fiction pieces. The book also includes interviews with activists, health care workers and researchers whose work offers insights into what liberatory and transformative approaches to LGBTQ+ health can look like in practice.
Caring for LGBTQ2S People: A Clinical Guide – Caring for LGBTQ2S Peopleidentifies gaps in care and health care disparities, and provides clinicians with both the knowledge and the tools to continue to improve the health of LGBTQ2S people. Written by expert authors (including Dr. Stratton), this fully updated version builds on the critically praised first edition and highlights the significant social, medical, and legal progress that has occurred in Canada since 2003.
leZlie Lee Kam (gender mysterious)
I am a World Majority, Brown, Carib-Indigenous , trini, Indo, Chinese, callaloo, differently-abled, Jurassic and Bionic DYKE, Elder/Rainbow Senior and I’m currently a co-chair of the board of Pride Toronto. I am an educator, accessibility/accommodation consultant, story teller, connector, sometimes actor and a respectful troublemaker, disruptor, infiltrator and agitator. I live and work from a pro-Indigenous, Truth and Reconciliation, anti-oppression, anti-racism, intergenerational / intersectional perspective. I advocate for Two Spirit, Indigenous, queer and transgender rainbow seniors and youth of colour.
Senior Pride Network – A volunteer-run association of intergenerational individuals, organizations and community groups that share an interest and commitment to expanding programs and services for older 2-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and intersex people in the City of Toronto.
The 519 – The 519 Older 2SLGBTQ+ Adults Program provides people with opportunities to make deeper connections with their peers by socializing and learning through special events, guest speakers, and promoting related community resources.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre – The Rainbow Seniors Project is an intergenerational creative and community-building process that will culminate in a cabaret presentation of new work centring the experiences of queer seniors.
Sunshine Centres for Seniors – Sunshine Centres for Seniors serves over 1,500 seniors seniors and persons with disabilities, and strongly supports cultural diversity and inclusive participation.
Family Services Toronto – Still With It: Safety & Belonging for 2SLGBTQIA+ Seniors (in-person). This 12-session series creates a safe social space for 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors to learn about and discuss concerns related to elder abuse and building community. Peer co-facilitated by 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors, this program will address two significant concerns: raising elder abuse awareness (including financial abuse) and the need for social participation and inclusion.
Video: Leading & Learning with Pride – Supporting 2SLGBTQI+ Seniors on International Day of Older Persons. Hear and learn from 2SLGBTQI+ seniors and champions of change who have fought and continue to speak out against discrimination as they navigate aging.
Return, Seek, Carry – An installation created by Jocelyn Reynolds that presents the stories of 20 queer elders as a combination of portraits and oral histories.
Crossing the Rainbow Bridge – A Resource Supporting End-of- Life Planning and Care Needs of LGBTQI2S Older Adults in Ontario.
How to build safe spaces for LGBTQ seniors – Ontario’s population is aging rapidly — and many older LGBTQ people fear being forced back into the closet when they move into residential care. Read this article to learn more.
Video: Out at Home: LGBTQI2S older adults and home care – Home is meant to be a safe place, and home care workers play a key role in helping us age happily and healthily at home. Out at Home is an evidence-based video that equips home care professionals to provide LGBTQI2S older adults with the best possible care.
Please note, we respect all identities at WCH while typically prioritizing 2S by placing it at the beginning of our acronym (2SLGBTQIA+). The shift towards bringing 2S to the forefront of the acronym acknowledges the specific oppression of Queer Indigenous folks. With the brutal history of colonialism on this land, we are beckoned to centre the experiences of those folks most marginalized by our society.
