The Trudeau government asked for research to be done on whether federal funding should be given to organizations that are “unaccepting of LGBTQ individuals,” according to records. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a report by the Privy Council also talked about providing special funding for Pride communities, such as scholarships for sexual minority individuals..Findings were drawn from sexual minority focus groups in Toronto and Montréal..Participants “questioned why the process to normalize, protect and include LGBTQ communities was not moving faster, believing there needed to be greater urgency on the part of the federal government,” according to the report Continuous Qualitative Data Collection of Canadians’ Views..“Priorities needed to be implemented across all regions of the country, including in rural communities and not just in major urban centres,” wrote researchers. .“A number of participants expressed the need for further federal resources for queer-led community initiatives as well as scholarships and grants for LGBTQ individuals pursuing higher education.”.“A few also suggested that action be taken to reduce or rescind existing federal grants from any community organizations that were currently unaccepting of LGBTQ individuals,” said Canadians’ Views. .“A smaller number of participants also expressed support for the initiatives to engage all Canadians in fostering a more inclusive future and embed issues in the work of the Government of Canada.”.Canadians’ Views did not discuss examples of a sexual minority funding test. The department of Employment in 2017 denied Canada Summer Jobs subsidies to 1,559 employers, including Catholic charities that would not sign a pledge recognizing “the right to access safe and legal abortions.” The cabinet rewrote the pledge in 2018 to state applicants must “respect individual human rights.”.According to a report by Statistics Canada called LGBTQ+ Communities in Canada: A Demographic Snapshot, approximately 4% of Canadians identify as gay or lesbian. .A smaller fraction, about 0.24%, identify as transgender or non-binary. .The report also found 72,880 same-sex couples across the country, with a large concentration in Toronto and Montréal, where the Privy Council conducted the focus groups..“None agreed with the statement that the Government of Canada listens, cares and responds to the needs of folks within the LGBTQ community,” said Canadians’ Views. .Focus group participants “felt that little in the way of tangible progress had been made by the Government of Canada on the issues most important to LGBTQ communities” and that “significant room for improvement still remained.”.Focus groups also expressed concerns that many Canadians do not understand certain terms, such as “two-spirited” to describe gay indigenous people..“The view was expressed that there needed to be a particular emphasis on increasing the visibility of two-spirited individuals with several of the impression that a large portion of Canadians did not understand what this term represented,” wrote researchers..Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a speech on June 8 at Parliament Hill where he stated that the Pride flag “proudly flies here in your seat of government” and claimed there seems to be an increased intolerance of sexual minorities..“Transphobia, biphobia, homophobia, they are all on the rise,” said Trudeau. .“It’s been difficult to watch people and institutions still continue to reject who you are, to try to deny members of our communities the right to be seen and heard and celebrated.”
