• Share professional and lived experiences about SOGIECE in a supportive, affirming, and collaborative environment
• Identify key health and social service needs of SOGIECE survivors
• Exchange ideas about pan-North American interventions, including policy and advocacy work, public awareness & education, and improved supports for SOGIECE survivors
• Determine how research could be undertaken to fulsomely characterize the prevalence and nature of SOGIECE in Canada, as well as to inform interventions to prevent new harms and ameliorate ongoing negative health and social impacts of SOGIECE

By funding this work through the Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC), this event was a catalyst for broader research priorities around supporting the health and wellness needs of SOGIECE survivors. Through conducting in-depth interviews with survivors across Canada, researchers aim to shed light on the specific needs of this population to better support their long-term positive health outcomes.

Results:
Because the health of LGBTQ2S communities is an essential part of public health, the stories and collective expertise from the Vancouver Dialogue was used to form important research questions, with the aims of empowering survivors, identifying how to best support the health and wellness of LGBTQ2S youth and adult survivors, how to create institutional change, and what advocacy can be done to end SOGIECE practices in Canada.

The following are some of the outcomes and ongoing work being done:

• Researchers published a detailed report entitled Ending Conversion Therapy in Canada
• Advocacy around the conversion therapy conversation led to Prime Minister Trudeau issuing a mandate letter to Attorney General Lametti to “… amend the ‘Criminal Code’ to ban the practice of conversion therapy and take other steps required with the provinces and territories to end conversion therapy in Canada.”
• Ongoing interviews are being conducted across Canada to continue the research
• A second Dialogue event is being planned for Fall 2020

For more information, visit our website for a guest blog post from Dr Travis Salway Beyond the Ban: A Public Health Strategy to Eradicate Anti-2S/LGBTQ Practices and SOGIECE through the Centre for Gender & Sexual Health Equity.

The post Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression Change Efforts (SOGIECE) Dialogue Event and Research appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

When I was a teenager, I did my best to hide the fact that I was gay. I had a girlfriend and a buzzcut and avoided talking about topics that would raise the subject of sexuality. I was fortunate to have not attended ‘conversion therapy’, but looking back on it now, I’m not sure I would’ve passed up the opportunity had it been presented to me as an option.

‘Conversion therapy’ is a misnomer applied to practices that start from the premise that any sexual orientation other than heterosexual and any gender identity other than cisgender should be denied and suppressed, rather than affirmed and supported. These practices include things like pseudoscientific forms of psychotherapy, aversion or shock therapy, religious teachings, behavioral coaching, and delaying access to gender-affirming care.

And yes, they are still happening, in Canada, today.

My own experiences of societal norms, attitudes and sexuality have always driven my public health research. My doctoral research was on estimating rates of suicide among gay and bisexual men–and understanding why these rates are so high. In the spring of 2019, I was invited to make a statement before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, in support of their historic study on The Health of LGBTQIA2 Communities in Canada. When I asked the Committee policy analysts what they wanted to know, they said they understood that rates of suicide were unacceptably high in queer and trans communities, but they want to know what the federal government can do about it.

The federal government had just reviewed a petition from MP Sheri Benson to ban conversion therapy for minors in Canada. The petition had 18,200 signatures from across the country, signalling a strong desire among Canadians to end these practices. (in fact, a national poll conducted this year found that 58% of Canadians support a ban on conversion therapy.) The government responded by acknowledging that conversion therapy does not reflect the values of Canadians, or those of the federal government; however the petition was rejected on the basis that “this issue primarily implicates the regulation of the health profession, which is a provincial and territorial responsibility.” I responded by challenging the assumptions of the federal government’s rejection, specifically that the denouncement of conversion therapy by more than 49 health organizations has to-date not brought an end to conversion therapy. Therefore, more action is needed, at all levels of government.

MPs at the Committee hearing had no shortage of questions for me about what a federal ban on conversion therapy should look like. Ron McKinnon (Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam) asked, “first, I’d like to understand who is performing conversion therapy?…are these people doing this for hire or for profit?” He also wanted to know–acknowledging my statement that some people are taken to conversion therapy against their will–“who gets compelled [to attend conversion therapy], and how are they compelled?”

Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) asked, “in your view, does this answer [the federal government’s response to Benson’s petition] satisfy you, or would you like to see an explicit Criminal Code provision to ban conversion therapy?” Robert-Falcon Ouellette (Winnipeg Centre) wondered, “how many kids go out of the country [for conversion therapy]?”

My answers to these questions are limited by the scarcity of research on the topic in Canada. Therefore, I have spent much of the past year talking with conversion therapy survivors. In November, I convened a group of 31 survivors, community leaders, researchers, healthcare providers, religious leaders, and policy analysts to set the stage for research to better describe the prevalence and nature of conversion therapy (also known as SOGIECE, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression change efforts) in Canada, as well as the health and social service needs of survivors. In January 2020, we will begin in-depth interviews with survivors from across the country. Leaders of at least two of the federal parties have made election commitments to banning the practices. The policy-action iron is hot, and we are moving quickly to ensure that policy-makers have the data they need to enact effective policies.

Talking with survivors has helped me appreciate the scope and severity of ongoing conversion therapy practices in Canada. What could have been a reality for me–growing up in fear of society’s attitude toward my own sexual orientation–remains a threat for tens of thousands of Canadians. I hid my sexuality throughout my teenage years, and thereby averted opportunities for conversion therapy to be presented to me. Today, LGBTQ2 people are coming out at younger ages. While this is undoubtedly a sign of social progress, it also means that youth may be more vulnerable to conversion therapy because they are more visible than the LGBTQ2 youth of my generation were.

Conversion therapy practices are inhumane. They lead to years of psychological distress, and inhibit our ability to lead self-affirmed and self-actualized lives. In some cases, survivors have told me that they lost their ability to work and form relationships. Canadian youth deserve the opportunities to grow up confidently knowing that their sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions will be celebrated and supported. Achieving this vision of a fully LGBTQ2-affirming country requires empirical descriptions of ongoing conversion therapy practices that will in turn enable us to end conversion therapy, once and for all.

If you want to support Travis’ work, make a tax-deductible gift to our crowdfunding campaign before December 31st. Donations will support his work in conducting research on conversion therapy and ensuring that LGBTQ2+ youth are protected from these inhuman practices.

The post The Threat & Reality of Conversion Therapy in Canada appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Chances are, you’ve heard of Black Friday—the massive shopping day after American Thanksgiving in late November. Maybe you’ve even heard of Cyber Monday? (It’s the Monday following Black Friday when, you guessed it, a ton of online shopping and sales happen).

And then, there’s Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday was started in response to the mind-boggling levels of spending that occur from Black Friday thru Cyber Monday. It’s an international movement to promote charitable giving, and encourages us to take a moment to consider how we’re spending our hard-earned dollars. It’s a day for us to think, “how can I make a positive difference in my community?” (and maybe “I just got a great deal on 10 unicorn-shaped mugs, maybe that money could go toward some good”) This year, Giving Tuesday is on December 3.

The majority of us jump on these shopping sales, whip out our credit cards with abandon, and buy, buy, buy! And I get it—gifts need to be bought, and buying things is just fun sometimes. But what if we were that excited about things like helping people, supporting the environment, changing harmful inequalities, and building a more beautiful world?

It’s a lot harder to see the impact when you make your $25 donation. It’s not like that unicorn mug, all shiny and sparkly and waiting to be unboxed. But I can tell you: it makes a huge difference.

Let me give you a for instance. A few weeks ago, I was at a dialogue event with survivors of conversion therapy to discuss and plot how we can galvanize support to end it. At it, one participant came up to me, pulled me aside and said,

The amazing folks who’ve given to our crowdfunding campaign made that happen. That participant was flown across the country, and the chance to meet other survivors, and play an active role in launching work that is going to protect LGBTQ2+ folx like him. This is boundary-pushing, life-saving, law-changing work that’s happening, and this man got to be a part of it because of a bunch of people, just like you, gave $25 (or $10, or $50…).

So, Giving Tuesday. It’s around the corner. This year, I encourage you to think about how you can make a positive difference. Still buy all your gifts that’ll make your friends and family happy, but what about making a positive impact on a stranger’s life?

We have three key projects going right now, all related to public health that you can support:

• Funding new research and policy action that will impact the health and well-being of LGBTQ2S+ survivors of conversion therapy. Click here to donate.
• Directly supporting peers to take on overdose response, harm reduction, and anti-stigma work in their communities, while building their capacity to organize themselves. Donate to our reducing harms priority.
• Donate to help us find out if we can prevent childhood asthma. New research being conducted at the BCCDC is aimed at making sure generations of children can breathe easy. Donate to our addressing threats priority.

Not sure what you want to give towards, but just want to make sure we have good public health solutions? Donate to our Driving Innovation Fund.

The post What’s this Giving Tuesday thing, anyway? appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

November 2nd was a day I had been looking forward to for the past 7 weeks. On that remarkably crisp and sunny November morning, I was lucky enough to be allowed to attend a private dialogue event of individuals, researchers, allies and activists, leaders, and policy whizzes who were all experts in their own ways on one topic: conversion therapy. I do want to acknowledge that I was allowed to be there. This was a private event on a topic that is highly charged, deeply personal, and rife with emotions for many in the room. As a heterosexual cisgender fundraiser without lived experience, it was a privilege to be able to attend and engage. I’m very grateful my fellow attendees welcomed my presence as an ally.

A quick definition to explain what I’m talking about: we use the term “conversion therapy” to describe sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE). That’s a mouthful, but it’s exactly what it describes: trying to change, convert, or “repair” one’s sexual identity to heterosexuality, or trying to change one’s gender identity to cisgender. “Conversion therapy” is far from a perfect descriptor, but it seems to be the most familiar terminology.

I was invited to attend on behalf of the BCCDC Foundation because of our role in supporting the work that was to take place in the room that day and subsequent work to come. At the Foundation, it’s our job to understand the issue or project for which we’re fundraising in order to galvanize support around it. Being able to attend this dialogue event was the chance to see our donors’ generosity in action and use what I learned there to advance the work.

I’m embarrassed to admit that prior to speaking with Dr Travis Salway (social epidemiologist and researcher at the BCCDC who is leading this work) in September, I had no idea that conversion therapy was still being practiced in Canada. Sure, I had heard of it before, but I thought there was no way this was still happening in 2019. Not a chance, I thought. I also thought that these were practices that happened solely in religious contexts. No way would a licensed medical practitioner impose this on patients seeking support.

On both accounts I was very, very wrong.

I have since learned that conversion therapy is happening right now in Canada. There are known groups and institutions operating across the country, and many more individuals unknown to us. And there is a history of health practitioners–doctors, social workers, counsellors, and therapists under the public healthcare system and privately–who have perpetuated these practices. Nearly everything I thought I knew about conversion therapy was wrong.

The purpose of the event was to develop the ideas that would catalyze novel research on the health needs of survivors and identify policy and legislative paths to end conversion therapy in North America.

There were 32 of us in attendance, and half of us had personal experience of conversion therapy. Everybody’s story, perspective, and role was different, but as a few folks in our group pointed out: despite our differences, we all had a shared commonality between us. We all know that survivors need to be heard, that conversion therapy causes deep harm, and we have to end it.

In preparing for the event, I did my research. I read testimonials and articles by survivors who described what they went through as torture; I watched films about the damage it causes; and I reviewed statistics like an estimated 20,000 LGBTQ2+ Canadians have been exposed to conversion therapy and how one third of survivors have attempted suicide. I understood the issue, the impacts it has, and why this is an important health and policy issue that we need to address. But I didn’t really grasp what that meant on a human level until I sat across from the folks who had lived it.

A lot of our work was focused and goal oriented–discussing what supports survivors need, what institutional change can look like, policy and legislative action options, and how do we communicate about this to the public to raise awareness and garner support. Interspersed with this, folks shared what they experienced and their challenges coming out of conversion therapy. Their stories ranged, but they were consistently heart-wrenching. I struggled to control the lump in my throat more than once, listening to the vulnerability of these perfect strangers sharing some of their greatest pains.

What I took away from their stories is that their trauma is not something that is experienced in a singular moment, or on a particular day. It’s not like a car crash; there isn’t a moment of impact where injury is sustained, followed by stillness, and then care and attention can be administered for healing to begin.

With this kind of trauma, the stillness doesn’t necessarily come. The injury continues, ongoing, often for years. One is left in a sustained moment-of-impact, where care and healing is attempted, but how can we heal if we’re being continuously re-injured?

What I witnessed was a group of incredibly brave people, of different backgrounds and identities, trying to still–years later–find their way through that injury to heal.

For those who have survived, the damages to identity, self-worth, and mental well-being linger. And then there’s some who haven’t.

This isn’t to characterize all as victims. Despite the immense pain they’ve endured, there was also amazing resilience in the room. Finding the strength to be there and share their stories takes real bravery and power. And that bravery and commitment to galvanize change for the better was what was truly inspiring. It’s because of that, that I know the changes and support we’re seeking are possible.

But what does this have to do with public health, and why we as a public health charity were there? Stay tuned for part 2 of my reflections where I’ll dig deeper into the “bigger picture” takeaways from this event. If you want to spur change now, join the movement, and make sure thousands of survivors can access the justice and support they need. You can make a gift to support this work, subscribe to our monthly newsletter, and engage with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where we’re talking a lot about this issue.

Continue reading part 2 of Katie’s reflections.

The post Reflections: Conversion Therapy Survivors Dialogue – Part 1 appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.