Towards more inclusive municipalities

Conseil québécois LGBT

The Conseil québécois LGBT has one thing in common with several LGBTQIA2+ organizations: it aims for systemic change to promote the inclusion of LGBTQIA2+ people in all spheres of society.

“It’s slow going,” says Sheba Akpokli, project co-coordinator at the Conseil québécois LGBT, “but, I think that with the political will and projects like the inclusive municipalities guide showing that it’s possible, I’m still optimistic that we will get there!”

The Guide pratique pour des municipalités québécoises inclusives des personnes LGBTQIA2+ (french only) is a tool to help municipalities address inclusion gaps in the municipal sphere, a level of government with growing agency. The guide includes concrete recommendations and practical tools that can be adapted to different municipalities to make their policies, services, and interactions with LGBTQIA2+ populations more inclusive.

Mobilizing municipalities’ power to take action

Municipalities are taking on more and more responsibility for their local communities because they’re the level of government that has the most direct contact with the people they serve.

“Municipalities are working on multiple files and a range of issues,” says Sheba. Broadening municipal mandates and the diversity of files mean municipalities must prioritize the issues to be managed.

Through a series of consultations, Sheba and her team worked closely with their member organizations to develop strategies and promote inclusive tools and policies that can be easily integrated and tailored to various municipal settings.

Sheba tells us, “It was important to equip our members so they can continue the project in their community, increase their impact, and reach more people.” Municipalities welcomed the recognition of their past achievements and the possibility of incorporating recommendations into ongoing projects.

The value of an intersectional perspective

The Conseil québécois LGBT highlighted an intersectional approach throughout its guide and interactions with municipalities. As Sheba points out, the population is not homogeneous, and intersectionality provides a lens that reveals the specific challenges faced by different groups, such as LGBTQIA2+ seniors or Black women who are recent immigrants.

The intersectional approach proposed in the guide allows municipalities to assess whether a policy really reaches the entire population.

Accessibility and the use of public spaces such as parks have been discussed in meetings with municipalities. The people who most often use these spaces are women and minorities. A clean and well-maintained park will no longer serve these two groups if it isn’t properly lit at night. Instead, they will choose a different route to get to their destination, even if the path through the park is faster. A cisgender heterosexual man will have a different experience since he wouldn’t be afraid of being assaulted in the park.

Municipalities often fall into the trap of universality to serve their populations. “Universality is a trap because it doesn’t allow you to see the specific challenges faced by certain types of people,” says Sheba. To understand the root causes of the realities experienced by LGBTQIA2+ people, it’s essential to conduct an intersectional assessment of the issues that affect them.

Project sustainability

The inclusive municipalities guide was well received by everyone who consulted it.

Sheba says, “It was really nice to see that since the guide was unveiled, municipalities have sought out the tool, downloaded it, and included it in their resources to help them with their inclusion work. It was one of the happiest and most satisfying moments we’ve had!”

While the project was completed in March 2024, the dissemination of the guide and engagement on inclusion at the municipal level continue. Several members of the Conseil québécois LGBT have used the guide to recommend follow-up actions and have committed to continue talking about it.

The guide has even travelled far enough to reach Francophone municipalities outside Quebec, who have expressed interest in this tool.

A final thought

If there’s one message Sheba hopes people take away from the guide, it’s this: “Our communities are not a homogenous demographic, isolated somewhere within the population. We are in every sphere. Our populations are among the most affected by access to housing due to poverty and their high representation among people experiencing homelessness, or by access to quality healthcare.”

“More recently, we’ve seen an increase in hate speech targeting our communities and backsliding on our rights. We need municipalities to take up this intersectional lens to ensure our realities are represented in the policies and services they provide. With political will, municipal engagement will have greater impacts.”