Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Intersectoral Action Fund, CBRC has launched a one-year project to establish a national coalition to end conversion “therapy” practices in Canada, an extension of CBRC’s ongoing collaborative work in this area.
Despite a federal law criminalizing conversion “therapy” and denouncements from professional associations and expert bodies, conversion practices (CP) continue to take place across Canada. Ongoing barriers to ending conversion practices include a lack of policy responses targeting transgender conversion practices, effective reporting and/or enforcement mechanisms for the federal law, action on the part of provincial governments and healthcare regulatory bodies, and a federal plan to abolish conversion practices.
To make matters worse, the alarming rise in anti-trans and anti-queer violence, and recent legislative efforts to roll back protections for trans and gender-diverse youth, raise concerns of increased CP risk. Of particular concern are the experiences of BIPOC, immigrants, refugees, and newcomers who are 2S/LGBTQIA+ survivors of CP and/or SOGIECE (sexual orientation and gender identity or expression change efforts), who face additional challenges due to intersecting oppressions related to their race, ethnicity, immigration status, language, and religion. We will work to centre the experiences of these communities in this project.
To counter these threats and help end CP in Canada, we will strengthen and expand collaborations between 2S/LGBTQIA+ community organizations, healthcare organizations, and affirming faith communities to share knowledge, develop solutions, and demonstrate how the federal law can be more effectively applied in healthcare policies, faith-based practices, and elsewhere.
Alongside CBRC, this coalition will mobilize new and existing partners to lead this work, including survivors, academics and researchers, legal experts, 2S/LGBTQIA+ community organizations, mental healthcare organizations, and affirming faith groups. An initial Coalition Advisory Committee will guide CBRC in addressing 3 key priority areas for action:
- Partnership development: Strengthen and expand partnerships among 2S/LGBTQIA+ community organizations, service providers, and key groups, including those with lived experience, ultimately establishing a national coalition.
- Education and leadership for communities and key groups: Identify and mobilize educational resources on CP and the federal law, foster leadership and action, and strengthen capacity to support ending or preventing conversion practices and other change efforts.
- Legal and policy analysis: Conduct a legal, research, and policy analysis on the federal law (Bill C-4) and other anti-conversion “therapy” legislation and policies introduced to date in Canada, to identify barriers and gaps for CP prevention and to inform supplementary policy and program responses (e.g., accountability and enforcement structures).
In the first few months of this project, we have strengthened existing and developed new partnerships. We have also worked to identify how we can apply an intersectional lens and anti-oppressive framework to this work, and better respond to the needs and experiences of BIPOC, newcomer, immigrant, and refugee 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities.
Looking ahead, a coalition meeting will be held in Vancouver on November 20th, in conjunction with Summit 2024, to focus on coalition building and visioning. Shortly after, we will launch an open call for coalition members. Together we will create a broad, intersectoral, and community-led national coalition to end conversion practices in Canada, expand and support 2S/LGBTQIA+ advocacy, and mobilize efforts for maximum impact on Canadian legislation and policies. By working together, we will strengthen equality for 2S/LGBTQIA+ people and centre those who have been exposed—or may be at risk of exposure—to CP.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
By Jordan Sullivan, Project Coordinator
