Exploring the social service experiences and needs of LGBTQ newcomers, immigrants, and refugees in Windsor-Essex


Tasha Stansbury, University of Windsor

This paper is based on 13 semi-structured interviews conducted between April and September of 2023 with individuals who identify as both members of the LGBTQ+ community and as newcomers, immigrants, and/or refugees, and who have accessed social services within Windsor-Essex within the past 5 years. The study was designed with the intention to ultimately facilitate an understanding of the specific needs of this group to better inform social services supporting LGBTQ people and newcomers, immigrants, and refugees in Windsor-Essex. The paper is based on a study of the experiences of LGBTQ+ immigrants, refugees, and newcomers to the Windsor-Essex area, and particularly touches on the intersection of migrant and queer identities in shaping social service access experiences. Notably, this study is the first of its kind focused on Windsor-Essex, as many similar studies focus on the experiences of queer and trans migrants in larger urban centres. Small cities and rural areas present unique difficulties and experiences for queer and trans migrants, including a smaller pool of resources, smaller queer and trans communities, and less openly available information available services. The paper and the study on which it is based are grounded in an intersectional theoretical approach. Developed by Black feminist scholars, intersectionality theory stipulates that the critical insights of race, gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, migration status, ability, and age are mutually constitutive processes that shape complex social inequalities. Intersectionality emphasizes the multiple intersections of power and oppression that influence social, political, and economic relations across societies, as well as individual experiences. An intersectional approach guided the data collection, analysis, and interpretation to illuminate the multiple and mutually constitutive systems of oppression that affect LGBTQ migrants. Systems of oppression such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and classism inform the structural barriers that these communities face when accessing social services. Thus, an intersectional approach informs policy and programing recommendations aimed at addressing the needs and improving social services to support LGBTQ migrants. Participant responses across a range of question topics demonstrated an overwhelmingly common experience of isolation and alienation in their time adjusting to life in Canada. In the context of access to social services, this experience has two primary causes: First, an overall lack of services targeted specifically to LGBTQ+ newcomers, immigrants and refugees; and second, a lack of training in service provision for members of one group in organizations targeting the other. Experiences reported by the participants demonstrate that this gap in service provision results in incidents of cultural incompetency, insensitivity to sexual and gender identities, and incidents of outright discrimination from service providers. Consequently, the lack of services specific to the needs of LGBTQ+ migrants has contributed to a sense of isolation from both the LGBTQ+ community and the immigrant community in individuals who are members of both. All participants identified a need for social connection and social support. The main conclusion of the paper is that the lack of intersectional approaches to service provision focused on the LGBTQ+ and migrant communities is connected to a sense of isolation and barriers to access to services for individuals who are members of both communities. Recommendations include the establishment of partnerships between organizations in Windsor-Essex serving LGBTQ+ and newcomer, immigrant and refugee communities, both in supporting one another’s existing services through competency training, and through the creation of new programming to support and create connections between individuals and their communities.

Non-presenting authors: Merrick Pilling, Toronto Metropolitan University; Michelle Tam, University of Toronto; Jane Ku, University of Windsor; Derrick Biso, Trans Wellness Ontario; Andrew Chapados, University of Windsor

This paper will be presented at the following session: