We Are Not a Footnote: Centering Black 2SLGBTQI+ Lives in National Policy

The Myth of Canadian Inclusion

Canada loves to celebrate diversity — until it has to reckon with who’s left out of the data, decisions, and dollars. Black 2SLGBTQI+ communities are not new. We have always organized, survived, created, and led. What’s new is our refusal to remain an afterthought.

More Than a Checkbox

We are not a demographic checkbox. We are not a seasonal campaign. We are a force — living at the intersection of Blackness, queerness, resistance, and resilience. And yet, when national strategies are rolled out, when research priorities are set, when budgets are approved, we are consistently overlooked.

Systemic Erasure Isn’t Accidental

From healthcare to housing, education to employment, the systems that shape daily life continue to ignore the realities of Black queer and trans people. We are overrepresented in precarious housing. We are underrepresented in leadership roles. We are routinely erased from national research — or tokenized in ways that do more harm than good. This isn’t an oversight. It’s a design flaw. And it’s time to redesign.

Policy That Ignores Us, Harms Us

You cannot address public health without acknowledging anti-Black racism and transphobia. You cannot advance mental health equity while ignoring the trauma of generational exclusion. You cannot build policy frameworks that serve "everyone" when our realities are nowhere in your data.

A Black trans youth recently shared how every shelter in their city turned them away. Not because there wasn’t space — but because the intake forms didn’t have space for them.

What We Deserve: Not Inclusion — Infrastructure

Black Queer Canada exists because silence is violence — and absence in policy is a form of harm. Our communities deserve more than inclusion. We deserve infrastructure. Investment. Representation that isn’t symbolic, but structural.

Our Demands Are Clear

We are building a national movement that doesn’t beg for inclusion, but demands accountability. We are calling for:

• National disaggregated data collection that includes race, gender identity, and sexuality

• Federal and provincial funding models that reflect intersectional community needs

• Policy frameworks co-created with Black 2SLGBTQI+ leaders

• Long-term investment in Black queer cultural production, health, and housing

This Is About Liberation

This isn’t about visibility for visibility’s sake. This is about safety. About survival. About liberation.

Final Call to Action

Black 2SLGBTQI+ people are not a footnote in this country’s story — we are its future. The only question is: will the systems catch up, or will we have to build new ones?

Either way, we’re moving. Join us.