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Safe Haven: The Journey of LGBTQ+ Refugees in Canada

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, 50th Anniversary of the Decriminalization of Homosexuality in Canada Special Issue, 2019

By Alex Newman

Fifty years ago, Canada passed amendments to a law to decriminalize homosexual activity. Although it was the height of the sexual revolution for women, the law was considered ground-breaking. Back then, only a handful of U.S. states had taken similar steps (and didn’t become legal nationwide until 2003). England’s 1967 law came with several qualifiers, just as in Canada. France made homosexuality legal by amending the penal code in 1791 during the French Revolution, and Italy followed a century later in 1890.

According to Equaldex, a collaborative LGBTQ+ knowledge base, upwards of 150 countries have legalized homosexual activity—India and Angola in the last eight months—leaving at least 45 that still treat homosexuality as a crime. In April of 2019, Brunei changed its punishment for same-sex relations from imprisonment to death by stoning; bringing the number of countries that automatically exact the death penalty for consensual same-sex relations to eight, with another five countries where death is a possible punishment. Of those countries, punishment can be carried out by government—or non-state actors, like Islamic State, or by the Sharia courts.

The persistence of violence against LGBTQ+ people in countries where homosexuality is legal remains worrisome and creates a refugee situation that is not so easy to prove. For example, renowned Serbian LGBTQ+ and peace activist Boban Stojanović escaped to Canada after being publicly attacked in the middle of the day. In February of 2018, homosexuals in Indonesia were publicly flogged. In Chechnya, the situation has become so severe—with gay men rounded up, tortured, and killed—that the Canadian government acted proactively to evacuate several to safety.

Some see this backlash as a sign that LGBTQ+ activism has increased its visibility, which may lead to change, but for the increasing number of refugees caught in the middle of violence, change can’t happen soon enough. To meet the growing demand, a number of Canadian NGOs have stepped up their efforts by either helping those at risk apply from safe second countries through their networks, or by helping asylum seekers with settlement and applications once they arrive in Canada.

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Alex Newman is a Toronto freelance writer and editor. Visit her website, alexnewmanwriter.com.

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Alex Newman
Alex Newman
Alex Newman is a Toronto freelance writer and editor. Visit her website, alexnewmanwriter.com.

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