Creating LGBTQ-specific youth centres has been considered in Ottawa but funding remains a problem.
“It’s something people have been talking about but we just haven’t seen the opportunity to do that. In terms of safety, knowing that you’re in an environment that is totally LGBTQ-focused would be really important,” says Stacey Lauridsen, assistant director of Community Services at the Youth Services Bureau.
“When I say safe, I mean more than just physical safety, although we have that with individualized rooms with locks and option for a private bathroom. It is also about emotional safety. Do youth see themselves reflected in the environment that they’re in?.”
Last month researcher Alex Abramovich found that queer youth face discrimination in homeless shelters and spend more time on the street. He recommended shelters exclusively for LGBTQ – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer – youth.
At least 20 to 30 per cent of young people that arrive YSB’s drop-in identify as LGBTQ,.
“But those numbers are probably much higher,” he says.
“A lot of LGBTQ youth don’t find acceptance in their homes and are asked to leave.
They have a harder time finding the spaces where they can be who they are,” he explains.
In general, less than 10 per cent of the population is LGBTQ. This makes it crucial for homeless shelters to welcome LGBTQ, Lauridsen says.
He says he thinks the Youth Services Bureau is doing well.
All employees at YSB receive special training on LGBTQ issues. Last year, youth services started a weekly community group. “Spectrum,” is led by LGBTQ youth and has been a success, according to Christine Castonguay, counsellor with the program.
Since beginning in April 2012, 135 youths have shown up .
Castonguay describes the results of Spectrum as: “Magic.”
“All the time we see unsure kids come in very nervous. Usually, by break time, you see them relaxing with a smile,” she says.
Other queer-supporting groups offer similar programs in Ottawa. It is an important part of preventing young people from living on the street, Castonguay says.
“Sometimes, just breaking that sense of isolation and having a sense of belonging and resources will assist them in overcoming the negative impact of homophobia, biphobia or transphobia.”