Legal and financial services

A small group of participants across the two regions expressed concerns about their ability to access legal and financial services. Two of 25 (8 percent) participants from Central Canada and two of 17 (11 percent) from Eastern Canada reported serious legal issues in this area. Participants experienced a range of issues: being denied insurance coverage, concerns over whether a jury would accept their HIV status, not being able to access their estate (a trust fund), and being discriminated against by their landlord.

A participant from Eastern Canada who was denied insurance coverage commented that they felt they were being discriminated against because of their HIV status. But they were unsure whether they were denied coverage because they were gay, since HIV is often connected to their sexual orientation. They observed that “in the gay community, it’s very difficult to separate, especially in the gay male community, to separate the HIV issue with being gay, given the high infection rate” (EC#16). They explained that because their HIV status was classified as a chronic illness, not a disease, they felt it should not prevent them from obtaining adequate insurance coverage.

Another participant noted similar concerns about their HIV status. They were told that their sexual identity and health status would affect their court case. Their lawyer explained to them, “because I’m a gay man, the jury will look down on me. And because I have HIV, the jury is going to look down on me” (CC#9). Both this person and the previous participant (EC#16) experienced discrimination because of their health status, which is often connected to their sexual orientation. These experiences pinpoint the intersectional identities of 2SLGBTQI+ folks, revealing the underlying factors that often result in them becoming targets of discrimination.

Another participant experienced similar challenges with the intersecting elements of their identity (queer and trans) when a landlord discriminated against them. The participant recognized that their identity could provoke disputes, and they therefore took precautions to protect themselves.