Chapter 10 Chapter Overview & Learning Objectives

Social Work and Sexual and Gender Diversity  

Chapter Summary

This chapter begins with an overview of commonly used terms related to gender identity and sexual identity. It briefly explores the differing levels of acceptance toward queer and trans people in a global context and then focuses in on Canada, beginning with the historical context.

Prior to colonial contact, many First Nations communities in Canada honoured sexual and gender difference. With the arrival of European settlers, First Nations’ spirituality and value systems were deemed unnatural and notions of gender conformity and heterosexuality were violently imposed. Over time, homosexuality emerged as a term to describe sexual and gender difference as deviant and was classified as a mental disorder. Despite the decriminalization of same-gender sexuality and the legalization of same-gender marriage in Canada, TSLGBTQ people continue to experience violence and discrimination, including in health-care and social service settings.

As a theoretical framework, intersectionality sheds light onto how multiple oppressions intersect to create different and complex forms of marginalization. It can also support social workers in understanding how discrimination is experienced in different ways by TSLGBTQ people, depending on the individual’s social location and environment. A person’s social location is shaped by the different groups to which they are connected, including those based on race, sexuality, gender, and religion, and their geographical and socio-historical context. A person’s social location influences the degree of power, privilege, and violence they experience at the structural/institutional, cultural, and interpersonal levels.

Social workers should be aware of the complexities surrounding the process of “coming out,” as the causal link between coming out and well-being has been challenged. They should also consider the diverse ways in which sexual minorities negotiate their families of origin, form alternative family structures, and engage in TSLGBTQ communities.

TSLGBTQ people negotiate a variety of barriers when accessing health-care and social services. Particular challenges may be faced by trans and gender non-conforming people, people living with HIV, older adults, people living in rural/remote areas, youth in care, and people dealing with intimate partner violence. Across all contexts, heterosexism and cissexism are often embedded in health-care and social service environments, resulting in TSLGBTQ people experiencing explicit and more subtle forms of homophobia and transphobia. Social workers should strive to foster safe and affirming spaces for TSLGBTQ people, particularly by implementing agency policies related to sexual and gender diversity; creating context-specific strategies to better respond to the needs of queer people; practising reflexivity in order to consider the relationship between the institutional power they hold and their social location; validating TSLGBTQ people’s identity and experiences of marginalization; and fostering collective empowerment.

Learning Objectives

The goal of this chapter is to do the following:

  1. Understand the historical, social, structural, and political dimensions of sexual and gender identity and expression in Canada and around the world.
  2. Identify and explore terms used to label sexual and gender identity.
  3. Explore diverse identities and expressions of sexuality and gender within the Canadian context.
  4. Increase understanding of the experiences of social injustice, exclusion, and discrimination experienced by two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (TSLGBTQ) individuals.
  5. Describe and apply intersectionality as a central theoretical framework for understanding TSLGBTQ individuals and their realities.
  6. Explore barriers facing TSLGBTQ individuals across health-care and social service settings.
  7. Identify the relationship between institutional power and social location when engaging in social work practice with TSLGBTQ individuals.
  8. Identify and explore how TSLGBTQ individuals and communities engage in individual and social advocacy to resist oppression.
  9. Identify community, provincial, and national resources that may assist social workers who work with TSLGBTQ individuals.
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