As part of a multi-year research project with the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), the Two-Spirit Program team at CBRC travelled across Canada to speak with Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ Indigenous community members about their unique experiences of stigma, isolation, and resilience.
Using data collected from CBRC’s 2022 and 2023 national Our Health surveys, Two-Spirit Program team members connected with Elders-in-residence, Two-Spirit Community Changemakers (TCC), Two-Spirit Symposium guests, community partners, volunteers, and the Two-Spirit people encountered during their travels. Recognizing the realities of stigma and isolation of Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+, the resilience and community-led response to these feelings continues to be underexplored within the larger LGBTQQIA+ context. The Two-Spirit Program sat in community to understand what was being done on the ground, what challenges persist, and what hopes Two-Spirit people for a future of strong relationships and connections.
At the end of the project, the Two-Spirit Program team created the following two Indigenous-led knowledge translation and mobilization resources (linked below), each designed in an accessible way to highlight the barriers, challenges, facilitators, and recommendations needed to inform research, policy, and practice on this topic.
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Firepit Sharing Circle (video: 57 min, in English, with English and French subtitles) Created in response to community calls for more accessible, visual ways of sharing lived experiences, Firepit Sharing Circle is a 57-minute film with members from the Two-Spirit Program reflecting candidly on the themes and hopes that emerged from this project, speaking directly to the nuance of stigma, isolation, and resilience of Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ people. |
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Fires Light the Way (zine, 56 pages) Created to share what was heard across the country after a year-long series of consultations with Indigenous 2S/LGBTQQIA+ relatives, the Fires Light the Way zine includes engaging reflections and recommendations from each territory the team visited: Tkaronto (Toronto), Sikoohkotoki (Lethbridge), Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Kwanlin Dün (Whitehorse), Somba K'e (Yellowknife), and Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). The zine also features artwork created by team members to visually expand upon the experiences shared. |
The resources developed from this project focus on barriers, challenges, facilitators, and recommendations to inform research, policy, and practice. Through this project, the Two-Spirit Program has been able to deepen relationships with Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ Indigenous community leaders, members, organizations, and people in rural, remote, and Northern communities in particular, including increasing capacity with partners in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
It is with this intention that these resources and connections continue to inspire, encourage, and evoke the advocacy and change needed to improve mental health outcomes, lessen feelings of stigma and isolation, and encourage and strengthen community networks for Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ people.
