Building Responses Based in Care, Love, and Community: Combatting Hate and Fostering Housing Justice with Gender Diverse People


Jayne Malenfant, McGill University

Gender-diverse people are over-represented in populations navigating homelessness, and housing precarity for Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary and other gender diverse peoples is often directly related to experiences of discrimination and hate. Despite an increasing recognition that the unique needs of gender diverse (broadly, 2SLGTBIA+) communities are important to consider in housing responses (including in the National Housing Strategy Act (2019)), there remains significant work to shift the spaces that gender diverse people navigate before, during, and following experiences of homelessness (Abramovich, 2011; Pyne, 2011). This paper will provide an overview of the trajectories that shape housing precarity and ongoing experiences of discrimination and hate for many gender diverse people in so-called Canada, with a focus on the intersections of two key systems that shape stability—housing and education. Drawing from a review of the literature, the authors—both gender-diverse people with lived experience of homelessness— will present key findings at the intersections of the education system and housing access that are highlighted by Two-Spirit, trans, and non-binary people as particular barriers to stability. Following this, and drawing from zines, academic articles, and gray/community literature, we will highlight some existing forms of community care, support, and action that have countered experiences of hate and harm, often standing in for the absence of access to supports offered to these communities by the State (Nelson et al., 2023). While our review has highlighted barriers for gender diverse people at many intersections of systems—including healthcare and criminal legal systems—we argue that schools and education are particularly fruitful to inform action. Trans youth are more likely to disengage from school to avoid navigating experiences of hate and violence (Shey, 2022), and school disengagement can be a key catalyst for cycles of housing precarity. In the current context of amplified hate and violence toward gender-diverse people in schools (EGALE, 2023), we will explore the potential of education to foster counter-responses, grounded in love, community care, and housing justice. Mirroring the NIMBY-ism found in the current housing landscape, calls to “Protect Children” from trans-inclusive practices are also grounded in a deep ignorance of the realities of gender diversity, and cause significant harm. We explore formal and informal opportunities to foster education for solidarity and understanding, as well as the ways that community-led education about housing rights and action may be an integral tool to build capacity and hold those in power accountable for failure to assure the housing rights of all gender diverse people.

Non-presenting author: Alex Nelson, Western University

This paper will be presented at the following session: