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Social Inclusion (ISSN: 2183–2803)
2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96
DOI: 10.17645/si.v4i4.669
Article
Preventing, Reducing and Ending LGBTQ2S Youth Homelessness:
The Need for Targeted Strategies
Alex Abramovich
Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, ON M5S 2S1, Canada;
E-Mail: Alex.Abramovich@camh.ca
Submitted: 9 May 2016 | Accepted: 21 September 2016 | Published: 20 October 2016
Abstract
Gender non-conforming and sexual minority youth are overrepresented in the homeless youth population and are fre-
quently discriminated against in shelters and youth serving organizations. This paper provides a contextual understanding
of the ways that institutional and governmental policies and standards often perpetuate the social exclusion of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 2-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) youth, by further oppression and marginalization. Factors, includ-
ing institutional erasure, homophobic and transphobic violence, and discrimination that is rarely dealt with, addressed, or
even noticed by shelter workers, make it especially difficult for LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness to access sup-
port services, resulting in a situation where they feel safer on the streets than in shelters and housing programs. This paper
draws on data from a qualitative Critical Action Research study that investigated the experiences of a group of LGBTQ2S
homeless youth and the perspectives of staff in shelters through one-on-one interviews in Toronto, Canada. One of the
main recommendations of the study included the need for governmental policy to address LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
A case study is shared to illustrate how the Government of Alberta has put this recommendation into practice by prioritiz-
ing LGBTQ2S youth homelessness in their provincial plan to end youth homelessness. The case study draws on informal
and formal data, including group activities, questions, and surveys that were collected during a symposium on LGBTQ2S
youth homelessness. This paper provides an overview of a current political, social justice, and public health concern, and
contributes knowledge to an under researched field of study by highlighting concrete ways to prevent, reduce, and end
LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
Keywords
homelessness; homophobia; LGBTQ2S youth; policy change; social inclusion; transphobia
Issue
This article is part of the issue “Homelessness and Social Inclusion”, edited by Isobel Anderson (University of Stirling, UK),
Maša Filipovič Hrast (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), and Joe Finnerty (University College Cork, Ireland).
© 2016 by the author; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu-
tion 4.0 International License (CC BY).
1. Introduction
This paper provides a contextual understanding of the
ways that institutional and governmental policies and
standards often further oppress, marginalize, and per-
petuate the social exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, questioning, and 2-Spirit1(LGBTQ2S)
youth. The acronym “LGBTQ2S” is used throughout this
paper to refer collectively to the wide range of gender
and sexual identities that individuals identify with and
is meant to represent gender and sexual diversity. Al-
though there may be intersections among the various
identity categories, each identity has its own unique
needs and experiences. The terms “trans” and “queer”
are used interchangeably with LGBTQ2S throughout this
paper. The term “trans” (transgender) is used as an um-
brella term to describe people who do not conform or
identify with the sex assigned to them at birth. Whereas,
1The term “2-Spirit” refers to Aboriginal people who identify with both a masculine and feminine spirit. This term is not exclusive to gender identity, and
can also refer to sexual identity, and spiritual identity (Taylor, 2009).
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 86
the term “queer” is a multi-faceted term that has been
reclaimed by LGBTQ2S people as an identity category
for those who do not identify with binary terms that
describe sexual, gender, and political identities (Jagose,
1996). When we deviate from the norm and do not con-
form to hegemonic identity categories, we are likely to be
pathologized and/or labeled (Anzaldúa, 1987; Burstow
& Weitz, 1988). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM) classified homosexuality as
a “mental disorder” up until 1973 (Cooper, 2004). Al-
though homosexuality was removed over 40 years ago,
the DSM-5 still pathologizes and labels individuals who
have identities that do not fit into the gender binary, with
the label “Gender Dysphoria”, formerly named “Gen-
der Identity Disorder (GID)” (Moran, 2013). The pathol-
ogization of homosexuality and gender non-conformity
has led to stereotypes, stigma, homophobia, transpho-
bia, and the exclusion of LGBTQ2S individuals in many
spheres of daily living. For example, as Sue (2010) argues,
LGBTQ2S individuals are often gawked at in public spaces
and are recipients of daily insults and derogatory com-
ments. These intentional and unintentional day-to-day
negative attitudes and stigma towards LGBTQ2S individ-
uals can be described as microaggressions (Sue, 2010).
This paper draws on data from a qualitative Critical
Action Research study (Carson, 1990) that investigated
the experiences of a group of LGBTQ2S homeless youth
(n=11) between the ages of 16–29 years old in shelters,
and the perspectives and understanding of shelter work-
ers (n=14) and program managers (n=8) in Toronto,
Canada, through semi-structured one-on-one interviews
and focus groups. Youth participants were initially re-
cruited through recruitment posters in a wide variety of
shelters and population-based support services, as an at-
tempt to recruit a diverse group of young people, how-
ever, not enough participants were recruited through
this method; leading to the administration of snowball
sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Maximum
variation and opportunistic sampling were administered
to ensure that shelter workers and program managers
had a diverse range of comfort levels in dealing with sit-
uations of homophobia and transphobia in the shelter
system, training experiences, and number of years of pro-
fessional work experience. Critical Action Research com-
bines critical theory and action research in an effort to
create practical social change (Given, 2008). A major goal
of the study was to share knowledge to help improve the
condition of shelters and the policies that rule them, in
an effort to provide LGBTQ2S youth with safe, affirming,
and accepting services to turn to for support. One of the
key recommendations of the study included the need for
governmental policy to address LGBTQ2S youth home-
lessness. This paper shares a case study that illustrates
how the Government of Alberta has put this recommen-
dation into practice by prioritizing LGBTQ2S youth home-
lessness in their provincial plan to end youth homeless-
ness. Youth and staff quotes collected through the Criti-
cal Action Research study are shared throughout the pa-
per to exemplify the different ways that the issues pre-
sented affect the young people at the center of this work.
Over the past two decades, society’s acceptance
of sexual and gender diversity has grown, and conse-
quently, youth are coming out at younger ages than
ever (Lepischak, 2004; Savin-Williams & Diamond, 2000).
Nonetheless, many young people continue to encounter
microaggressions, homophobic and transphobic vio-
lence, and discrimination in their personal, familial, and
professional lives. One of the most frequently cited path-
ways leading youth into homelessness is family conflict,
regardless of gender or sexual identity (Cull, Platzer, &
Balloch, 2006; Gaetz, 2014; Hagan, & McCarthy, 1997;
Karabanow, 2004). However, identity-based family con-
flict resulting from a young person coming out as
LGBTQ2S is the most prevalent cause of homelessness
among queer and trans youth (Abramovich, 2012; Choi,
Wilson, Shelton, & Gates, 2015; Cochran, Stewart, Gin-
zler, & Cauce, 2002). Compared to their heterosexual and
cisgender2counterparts, LGBTQ2S youth face increased
risk of physical and sexual exploitation, mental health
difficulties, substance use, HIV risk behaviours, and sui-
cide (Denomme-Welch, Pyne, & Scanolon, 2008; Durso
& Gates, 2012; Ray, 2006). Further, LGBTQ2S youth com-
monly experience homophobic and transphobic discri-
miniation when accessing youth serving organizations,
emergency shelters, and housing programs (Abramovich,
2013; Denomme-Welch et al., 2008; Ray, 2006; Tyler,
2013). Factors such as institutional erasure, homopho-
bic and transphobic violence, and discrimination that is
rarely dealt with, addressed, or even noticed by shel-
ter workers and management, make it especially diffi-
cult for LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness to
access shelters, resulting in a situation where they feel
safer on the streets than in shelters and support services
(Abramovich, 2013; Keurghlian, Shtasel, & Bassuk, 2014).
Family rejection, inadequate social services, and dis-
crimination in housing, employment, and education, re-
sult in situations where LGBTQ2S youth are unable to
secure safe and affirming places to live. Transgender
youth, especially young transgender women of colour,
are amongst the most discriminated against groups
of people in housing programs and shelters (Grant
et al., 2011; Mottet & Ohel, 2003). They are often
faced with intersecting oppressions, such as transpho-
bia, racism, and homophobia. Due to gaps in knowl-
edge and a lack of reported incidents, discrimination
against LGBTQ2S homeless youth is rarely acknowledged
or even noticed by shelter workers, shelter manage-
ment, and policy makers (Abramovich, 2013; Josephson
& Wright, 2000). Research on youth homelessness has
continuously cited the overrepresentation of LGBTQ2S
young people (Abramovich, 2012; Dunne, Prendergast,
&Telford, 2002; Durso & Gates, 2012; Ray 2006). One
Canadian study, approximatley 16 years ago, estimated
that 25–40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ2S
2The term “cisgender” refers to people whose lived gender identity matches with the sex (female/male) they were assigned at birth.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 87
(Josephson & Wright, 2000). However, large-scale data
collection remains limited, which is why provincial and
national measurements of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness
are often based on older data. The hazard of relying on
old data, include that there is an under-estimate of the
real prevalence. Without an accurate measurement it is
difficult to confirm crucial characteristics of the popula-
tion, secure necessary increases in funding, or build a pol-
icy case for the delivery of more targeted services. This
gap in data inevitably impairs service delivery.
A major challenge in accurately measuring LGBTQ2S
youth homelessness is that programs and services of-
ten do not collect data on gender and sexual identity.
Key forms (e.g. intake forms) typically do not include
LGBTQ2S identities, particularly transgender and gender
non-binary identities. Up until fairly recently, research,
government, and community efforts to conduct home-
lessness counts and street-needs assessments left out
important questions regarding LGBTQ2S identity, result-
ing in minimal understanding of the correlation between
coming out and homelessness, the challenges that youth
face in trying to form their gender and sexual identities3,
and the unique needs and challenges experienced by
LGBTQ2S youth. Another major challenge in accurately
measuring the prevalence of LGBTQ2S youth experienc-
ing homelessness is the issue of hidden homelessness,
which refers to individuals who do not access shelters
or housing programs, but are living in precarious hous-
ing situations, such as couch surfing (Canadian Homeless-
ness Research Network, 2012). Hidden homelessness is
a significant concern for this population of young peo-
ple, especially for those living in rural and remote com-
munities. Targeted youth homelessness strategies that
prioritize the diverse challenges and needs of subpopu-
lations of youth that are disproportionately represented
amongst homeless youth, including LGBTQ2S youth, are
a necessary approach in order to appropriately address
youth homelessness.
2. Institutional Erasure and Invisibility of LGBTQ2S
Youth
There are numerous methods by which LGBTQ2S youth
are excluded and made invisible in shelters and housing
programs. Institutional and governmental policies and
standards frequently further oppress, marginalize, and
exclude LGBTQ2S youth. It is critical to understand how
institutions and institutional policies, such as shelters
and shelter standards, can work to erase LGBTQ2S indi-
viduals by not including them in key forms, reports, and
the day-to-day operation of programs. Institutional rules
and policies that do not consider or include LGBTQ2S
identities, particularly transgender identities, play a ma-
jor role in rendering them invisible and therby erasing
them. Namaste (2000) describes institutional erasure
as the “conceptual and institutional relations” (p. 137)
that render transgender individuals invisible and non-
existent. She argues that the use of “men” and “women”
dismisses the possibility that trans people could even ex-
ist. Similarily, Serano (2007) argues that by labeling peo-
ple as either male or female, trans people are erased
from public awareness, ignored, and viewed by cisgender
individuals as nonentities. Erasure begins when youth
first enter the shelter and undergo a formal intake pro-
cess, where they are asked a series of standard questions.
These questions help staff determine if youth belong in
the shelter and if they do, then which floor of the shelter
they will be placed (male vs. female)—already an erasure.
When services do not allow people to self-identify on key
forms and only provide the option for people to identify
as “male” or “female”, any identity that does not fall into
the gender binary is not included or documented. One of
the youth interviewed, spoke at length about how he at-
tempted to come out as trans during the intake process
at a shelter:
“The intake was so shitty in terms of trans stuff.
There’s just no room for trans or even LGBTQ stuff
on their intake. I tried to incorporate it in, ’cause they
are like, ‘do you need subway tokens to go to your ap-
pointments?’ and I’m like ‘yes! I’m going to this trans
program Monday, this trans program Tuesday...’ and
they just kind of ignored that.” (J. J., 26 years old, Crit-
ical Action Research Study)
The exclusion of LGBTQ2S identities from key institu-
tional forms and questionnaires creates challenges in
accurately measuring the prevalence of LGBTQ2S youth
experiencing homelessness, and determining the need
for specialized services. Heteronormative4and cisnor-
mative beliefs—such as the assumption that all people
born female will identify as women, and that all people
born male will identify as men—typically rule gendered
spaces, such as the shelter system. Serano (2007) argues
that everyday gendering and cisnormative assumptions
facilitate the majority of trans-erasure. Shelters are of-
ten segregated by male and female sleeping and living
corridors, and male and female bathrooms and showers;
this enforcement of gender conformity is another form
of institutional erasure. The expectation that shelter resi-
dents will fit into the gender binary makes the shelter sys-
tem an especially difficult place for transgender and gen-
der non-conforming individuals. The following quote il-
lustrates how the manager of a youth program described
the way that trans-erasure occurs in shelters:
“The fact that there are only men’s and women’s shel-
ters, the fact that youth shelters have boys and girls’
3Numerous studies have clumped transgender people under the label sexual minority. While, gender and sexual identity overlap, they are not the same.
Gender identity refers to how an individual identifies their gender (male, female, genderqueer, genderfluid, transgender, etc.) and sexual identity refers
to how an individual identifies whom they are sexually attracted to (lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual, etc.).
4Heteronormative beliefs assume that all people are heterosexual, unless told otherwise, and that heterosexuality is the normal and preferable sexual
orientation for everyone.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 88
dorms, and they have boys and girls’ bathrooms. Then
any time a trans person shows up it’s an anomaly, it’s
like ‘whoa, what do we do with you?’. Hopefully that
will start to be different if the city keeps track of trans
residents. There should be more than one box, they
should be keeping track of MTF and FTM, but they’re
not. That’s the type of thing we can say, ‘ah ha, there’s
some kind of need’. Otherwise trans people are com-
pletely absent. People who don’t exist, don’t need
access to services, you know, there’s no case to be
made.” (Youth Program Manager, Critical Action Re-
search Study)
As a response to the institutional policies and culture of
shelters, and to prevent being stigmatized and excluded,
LGBTQ2S youth frequently avoid shelters altogether, or
do not feel safe coming out as LGBTQ2S and attempt
to hide their identities. For example, one young person
stated:
“It was a women’s shelter and I didn’t feel comfort-
able there because I didn’t identify as female. I stayed
one night and then I just stuck with friends.” (Kelly, 27
years old, Critical Action Research Study)
The decision to not come out can be understood as a sur-
vival strategy, youth also engage in passing as straight
and/or cisgender in order to feel safe in the shelter sys-
tem and as a way to try to obtain the privilege afforded
to those who conform to heteronormative and cisnorma-
tive rules. Even though choosing to pass as heterosexual
and/or cisgender, still there are implications when youth
are forced to do so in order to get support from the very
systems that are meant to help all youth. When LGBTQ2S
youth avoid shelters, not only do they become invisible,
but also staff become even less aware of their existence
and needs, and therefore do not recognize their inability
to provide support or their need for training (Namaste,
2000). There is a cyclical nature to these relations de-
scribed that result in institutional erasure and invisibil-
ity. Firstly, LGBTQ2S cultural competency training5is of-
ten not made mandatory for staff working in shelters
or youth serving agencies, resulting in staff and man-
agement not feeling prepared to intervene in situations
of homophobia and transphobia. Secondly, the lack of
staff training perpetuates the dangers towards LGBTQ2S
youth in the shelter system because not only do staffs not
intervene in situations of homophobia and transphobia,
but also youths’ needs more generally are not met. As a
result, LGBTQ2S youth avoid the shelter system, and staff
end up knowing even less about how to meet their needs
and how to interact with them (see Figure 1 for illus-
trations of the cyclical nature of the relations described
above).
LGBTQ2S youth have distinct and complex needs,
however, they are frequently discriminated against and
5LGBTQ2S cultural competency training is widely used for staff working in health care and social services to increase skills and knowledge regarding the
diverse and complex ways that identities intersect and to improve the delivery of services to LGBTQ2S individuals (Margolies, Joo, & McDavid, 2016).
LGBTQ youths’ needs
are unmet
Shelter staff know even
less about LGBTQ youth
Staff unprepared and
do not intervene in
situaons of homophobia
and transphobia
LGBTQ youth avoid
shelter system
Increased homophobia
and transphobia in the
shelter system
Lack of LGBTQ training
in shelter system
Figure 1. Cyclical nature of the relations.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 89
excluded from services that are meant to support all
young people, regardless of gender and sexual identity.
Needs include safe, affirming, and supportive shelter and
housing environments, and health care. The needs of
transgender youth may differ from those of lesbian, gay,
and bisexual youth, for example, transgender youth may
choose to start hormones, which requires monitoring, in-
cluding regular blood work. The lack of specialized health
care services for transgender youth often results in youth
turning to unmonitored street suppliers for transition-
related treatment (e.g. hormones, silicone injections),
which can have severe health complications (Quintana,
Rosenthal, & Krehely, 2010). The profound impact that
homelessness and the lack of support has on LGBTQ2S
youth perpetuates issues relating to substance use, risky
sexual behaviour, victimization, and crime (Ray, 2006).
These issues make LGBTQ2S youth experiencing home-
lessness even more vulnerable to concerns such as de-
pression and loneliness (Ray, 2006), resulting in a greater
need for mental health support. Focused responses and
targeted strategies that prioritize LGBTQ2S youth are nec-
essary in order to meet the unique needs of the popu-
lation and promote social inclusion and acceptance of
all identities.
3. Prioritization of LGBTQ2S Youth
“You can’t just keep creating new systems and new
hotlines and fax numbers, you need to go to the root
of the problem and create spaces that are queer and
trans inclusive.…There needs to be some kind of re-
porting system or accountability process, some trans-
formative justice happening.” (J. J., 26 years old, Criti-
cal Action Research Study)
It has been known for over two decades that LGBTQ2S
youth are overrepresented amongst the homeless youth
population and are frequently unsafe in emergency shel-
ters and housing programs in Canada (O’Brien, Travers,
& Bell, 1993). However, this issue has only recently en-
tered important dialogue on youth homelessness, both
nationally and internationally. It has taken many years to
convince key decision makers that LGBTQ2S youth have
distinct needs that are often unmet and excluded in shel-
ter services. Support services play a fundamental role in
fulfilling homeless youths’ daily needs, such as shelter,
food, health care, and presumably safety. However, it
is essential that services be equipped to deal with the
wide-ranging needs of youth, which have undoubtedly
become more complex and diverse over the years (Youth
Shelter Interagency Network, 2007). Shelters are part of
the emergency response to homelessness and are meant
to be an entry point for people to gain access to the
proper services they need in order to help them out of
homelessness and into housing (Raising the Roof, 2009).
The inability of shelters to provide safety and support to
LGBTQ2S youth is a major barrier in moving this popu-
lation of youth out of homelessness and into housing.
Support services must be revised and adapted to reflect
the changing needs of youth, for example, one youth pro-
gram co-ordinator stated:
“Systemically there aren’t policies that necessarily
protect people and talk about inclusion from a useful
perspective, address the kinds of barriers that exist for
trans people for example. They need policies about
access and intake. There need to be policies that say
if a trans person comes into the shelter, they will be
served in the gender in which they’ve identified as the
safest and most comfortable for them.…The onus is
on the agency to make the space safer. That needs to
be there and that hasn’t happened yet.” (Youth Pro-
gram Coordinator, Critical Action Research Study)
Given the range of youth at risk of homelessness or expe-
riencing homelessness, many have diverse, complex, and
unique needs that must be recognized and addressed.
Which is why preventing, reducing, and ending youth
homelessness requires targeted responses for specific
subpopulations that are disproportionately represented
among homeless and street-involved youth. Prioritizing
subpopulations of youth, including LGBTQ2S youth, pro-
vides an opportunity to develop targeted responses and
strategies that involve critical attention to the unique
and diverse needs of the population because the com-
mon “one size fits all” approach does not actually work.
Even though interest in the issue of LGBTQ2S youth
homelessness is growing, still there are minimal spe-
cialized housing programs and services that meet the
needs of this population in Canada. Focused responses
including targeted prevention tactics, specialized hous-
ing programs, as well as building the capacity of exist-
ing housing programs to serve LGBTQ2S youth in a safe
and affirming manner, promote social inclusion and ac-
ceptance, and provide a strategy to meet the needs of
LGBTQ2S youth. In 2015, the Government of Alberta was
the first province in Canada to prioritize LGBTQ2S youth
through a targeted plan reflecting the unique needs of
LGBTQ2S youth and providing key stakeholders, govern-
ment, and communities with a common understand-
ing of the causes of homelessness experienced by this
population of young people, as well as the needs of
LGBTQ2S youth and service providers, and recommenda-
tions for solutions.
4. The Government of Alberta’s Youth Plan: A Case
Study
Supporting Healthy and Successful Transitions to Adult-
hood: A Plan to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness
(Youth Plan) was developed to address the unique needs
of youth across the province of Alberta, Canada. The
Youth Plan has placed particular importance on strength-
ening and reunifying families whenever possible, en-
suring that youth experience healthy transitions across
the system of care and within the youth serving sec-
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 90
tor, and preventing youth homelessness. The Youth Plan
identified that ending youth homelessness requires the
prioritization of subpopulations of young people that
are disproportionately represented amongst homeless
youth, including LGBTQ2S youth. In order to ensure that
LGBTQ2S youth are served more appropriately, the Gov-
ernment of Alberta worked in partnership with a commu-
nity group and myself (researcher) over the course of ten
months, to develop a provincial LGBTQ2S youth strategy
that is grounded in evidence-based research, and is rural
and urban in focus, given the landscape of communities
and services across Alberta. In line with the Youth Plan,
emphasis is placed on strengthening families first and en-
suring youth experience healthy transitions across the
system of care. The prevention of youth homelessness
and reunifying families when possible is a top priority.
One of the initial stages of this work involved a provin-
cial youth homelessness symposium, which brought to-
gether approximately one hundred service providers,
youth workers, managers, and health care professionals
to share knowledge and expertise in addressing youth
homelessness. Informal and formal data was collected
during the symposium, including surveys, group activi-
ties, and questions. The data collected provided knowl-
edge regarding the type and frequency of LGBTQ2S cul-
tural competency training offered to shelter workers,
housing providers, and youth serving agencies across the
province, as well as participants’ comfort levels in dealing
with situations of homophobia and transphobia in youth
serving agencies and shelters, and of course, their per-
spectives and understanding of LGBTQ2S youth home-
lessness in Alberta. One of the main outcomes of the
provincial youth homelessness symposium was the cre-
ation of a provincial LGBTQ2S working group made up
of approximately twenty managers of youth serving or-
ganizations, government officials, academics, and youth
workers (Klingbeil, 2015). Members of the working group
were selected by the Alberta Government in order to en-
sure representation from all parts of the province. The
purpose of the working group was to develop policy rec-
ommendations and implement program strategies for re-
sponding to the needs of LGBTQ2S youth at risk of or ex-
periencing homelessness in the province of Alberta. The
work of the working group supported the overarching
goals of the Youth Plan through providing strategic pol-
icy recommendations on how to respond to the needs of
this population of young people. Monthly teleconference
meetings were held, encouraging interagency collabora-
tion and the need for community engagement and build-
ing partnerships amongst services across the province.
Early work with the working group suggested that
rural communities felt isolated in providing support to
gender and sexually diverse youth and that there are
minimal specialized services available to LGBTQ2S youth
in rural communities. Additional findings revealed that
LGBTQ2S cultural competency training is not always of-
fered or made mandatory for staff working in youth serv-
ing organizations. Unavailability of training makes it dif-
ficult for staff to identify homophobia and transphobia,
and of course intervene when such incidents occur. Dif-
ficulty measuring the prevalence of LGBTQ2S youth ac-
cessing services was also revealed, partially due to the
absence of standardized policies and procedures, such as
provincial or municipal shelter standards, and LGBTQ2S
inclusive and affirming intake forms.
An initial report including Short, Medium and Long
Term solutions was developed in response to the work
of the LGBTQ2S working group and to provide an out-
line and agenda to launch the prioritization of LGBTQ2S
youth homelessness in Alberta. Short-term solutions in-
cluded recommendations that could be implemented
immediately to streamline and prioritize service deliv-
ery for LGBTQ2S youth; Medium-term solutions included
recommendations requiring system planning and nego-
tiations with funders and agencies to adopt; and Long-
term solutions included recommendations requiring pol-
icy change or legislation reform to ensure responses and
service delivery are tailored to the population. A final
report was delivered to the Alberta Government, out-
lining six key recommendations. Multiple stakeholders
were engaged in the development of the recommenda-
tions to ensure that the range of LGBTQ2S youth and
children receive appropriate supports. Communities and
young people need to be involved in the development of
strategies and services that are meant to support them,
which is why the following recommendations have been
greatly driven by community. The implementation of
these recommendations will engage government, com-
munities, service providers, educators, parents, and the
young people affected most by these issues. The Alberta
Government and I worked collaboratively with the work-
ing group to develop the following six recommendations,
which met the objectives of the Short, Medium and
Long-term solutions. The recommendations are meant
to help design an effective systemic response to LGBTQ2S
youth homelessness and a model of care that is appropri-
ately designed to meet the needs of this population of
young people.
5. Core Recommendations to Alberta Government
1. Support the delivery of LGBTQ2S specific housing op-
tions (development of new housing options and/or re-
finement of existing housing options):
• Ensuring that there are emergency shelter beds
available to LGBTQ2S youth.
• Transitional housing programs.
• Supportive housing programs (Housing First) that
are choice focused and place-based (e.g. Host
Homes).
2. Support the delivery of population-based programs
for LGBTQ2S youth that foster an intersectional approach
(development of new programs and/or programs within
existing services):
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 91
• Drop-in programs, including: arts, social, cultural,
and recreational activities.
• Mentorship programs.
• LGBTQ2S health clinic hours.
• Skill building and employment support.
• Population and/or cultural-specific programming
to provide cultural connectedness and access to
cultural traditions and practices, including: new-
comer/immigrant LGBTQ2S youth; LGBTQ2S youth
of colour; and Two-Spirit Indigenous youth.
3. Create provincial housing/shelter standards that fo-
cus on working with and meeting the needs of LGBTQ2S
young people:
• Standardized gender inclusive intake process (see
Figure 2).
• Service providers must respect and accept each
client’s self-defined gender identity and gender ex-
pression, including chosen name and pronoun.
• Gender inclusive washroom policy: Ensuring that
all services are equipped with single stall, gender-
inclusive washrooms (this may be in addition to
gendered washrooms in some services) and pro-
viding the tools required to convert washrooms,
such as signage.
• Guidelines for mandatory and ongoing training,
during the first 3 months of hire, for all frontline
staff, management, and volunteers of youth serv-
ing organizations across the province, as well as
foster parents/families fostering LGBTQ2S youth.
• Provincial LGBTQ2S Working Group (continuation
of existing working group).
• Supply all shelters, housing programs, and youth
serving organizations with appropriate and diverse
resources for the young people accessing services,
including, pamphlets, fliers, posters on walls, infor-
mation regarding coming out, LGBTQ2S health, safe
sex, as well as information on any local LGBTQ2S
services and events. This recommendation re-
quires that staff are made aware of the LGBTQ2S
specific programs available, so that they can refer
youth to appropriate services when necessary.
• A separate standard regarding access to services for
transgender, two-spirit, and gender non-conform-
ing individuals, stating that all shelters/housing pro-
grams, and youth serving organizations must ac-
commodate all transgender, two-spirit, and gen-
der non-conforming residents/clients in their self-
identified gender. Services should also be equipped
with the appropriate resources and knowledge to
refer youth to transition-related treatment (e.g.
hormone therapy, legal name change, counseling),
and funding and support should be made available
for transition related needs.
• A formal grievance/complaints procedure—All
shelters/housing programs to implement an in-
ternal grievance/complaints process, so that
clients/residents can lodge formal anonymous
complaints. Clients must be informed of the pro-
cedure during the intake process, as well as by
posting the grievance/complaints procedure in a
conspicuous area of the service.
4. Develop integrated, provincial training solutions for ex-
panded staff training for all aspects of LGBTQ2S cultural
competency:
• Expand LGBTQ2S youth homelessness training
within all youth serving organizations across the
How do you describe your sexual identy?
Check all that apply:
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Queer
Pansexual
Quesoning
Straight/Heterosexual
Asexual
Two-Spirit
Identy not listed (please specify)
___________________________
How do you describe your gender identy?
Check all that apply:
Woman
Man
Transgender
Trans woman
Trans man
Two-Spirit
Genderqueer
Genderfluid
Androgynous
Non-binary
Cisgender
Quesoning
Identy not listed (please specify)
___________________________
What gender pronoun do you use?
____________________________
Figure 2. Standardized intake form questions regarding gender and sexual identity.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 92
province by: (a) Supporting partnerships between
local and/or out of province LGBTQ2S organiza-
tions when necessary; (b) Borrowing key principles
from best practice guidelines and successful train-
ing models.
• Promote the delivery of immediate training to or-
ganizations and communities that lack specialized
LGBTQ2S resources and have requested support in
order to meet the needs of LGBTQ2S youth, such
as rural and remote communities.
• LGBTQ2S Cultural Competency Training should in-
clude, but not be limited to, the following areas
(depending on population served):
–Language/Terminology: Help staff develop
more understanding and clarity regarding
LGBTQ2S language and terminology, and nav-
igate discussions with comfort and ease.
–Homophobia and Transphobia: Increase un-
derstanding and awareness of the causes of
homophobia and transphobia and the impor-
tance of intervention, as well as the needs,
barriers, and experiences of LGBTQ2S home-
less youth. Training will help participants
identify and intervene when homophobic
and transphobic incidents occur, as well as
learn how to create safe, secure, and affirm-
ing spaces for LGBTQ2S young people.
–Transgender Awareness: Help staff under-
stand how to support young transgender indi-
viduals, provide a private space for staff to ask
questions regarding working with transgen-
der youth, help organizations create a trans-
gender inclusion policy, and develop trans in-
clusive and affirming services, become more
knowledgeable and develop strategies for re-
ducing barriers for trans service-users.
–Two-Spirit/Indigenous: Increase understand-
ing and awareness of two-spirit identity, and
Aboriginal culture and traditions, as well as
Aboriginal youth who identify as LGBTQ2S.
Training will help service providers create cul-
turally sensitive programs and spaces, and
help reduce stigma and discrimination to-
wards LGBTQ2S identified Aboriginal youth.
–Systems Navigation: Ensure that staff mem-
bers are aware of all local LGBTQ2S resources
and programs available for client referrals
and education.
5. Develop a prevention plan that emphasizes strategies
on early intervention, awareness raising, and programs
for children, youth, and families:
• The development of a prevention plan that em-
phasizes strategies on early intervention, aware-
ness raising, and programs for children, youth,
and families, and focuses on: (1) Preventing
young LGBTQ2S people from becoming homeless;
(2) Preventing young LGBTQ2S people from be-
coming adults experiencing chronic homelessness;
(3) Family first/family reconnection (with a sup-
portive family member); (4) Schools with Gay-
Straight Alliances6(GSA) are encouraged to ex-
plore the role of GSA’s to support LGBTQ2S youth
in schools.
• This will involve working collaboratively in a multi-
system approach to promote awareness and pre-
pare families, teachers, support workers, heath
care professionals, and communities with re-
sources and outreach information, sharing pro-
grams so that when young people come out as
LGBTQ2S, they are provided with the support
they need.
• Placing more emphasis on prevention will help
shift the current response to LGBTQ2S youth
homelessness from an emergency approach to a
longer-term approach, aligning with the Alberta
Youth Plan.
6. Develop the capacity for research that frames new
approaches and solutions to LGBTQ2S Youth Homeless-
ness:
• Investigation of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness in
rural Alberta.
• Evaluation of new and emerging LGBTQ2S pro-
grams across the province, which will allow for fu-
ture LGBTQ2S housing services to operate from an
evidence-based model.
• Reassess LGBTQ2S specific questions on measure-
ment procedures and point-in-time counts. Ensure
that volunteers conducting counts and surveys re-
ceive sensitivity training with regards to asking
questions pertaining to gender and sexual identity,
and that every respondent is asked about gender
identity, and not only the respondents that vol-
unteers perceive as transgender or gender non-
conforming. Integrate LGBTQ2S youth with lived
experience and LGBTQ2S organizations into the de-
sign and execution of counts, which will improve
outreach, especially to those who are not access-
ing services.
• Accurately measuring LGBTQ2S youth homeless-
ness will provide an idea of the prevalence of
LGBTQ2S youth homelessness in Alberta and may
help us better understand how LGBTQ2S youth
move through programs and systems, in order to
determine which interventions are working.
• Research that focuses on prevention strategies
(e.g. which strategies are successful, which ones
should be used, etc.).
6A Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is a student-led club or organization that is intended to provide a safe and supportive space for LGBTQ2S students to
support one another and work towards ending homophobia and transphobia in the school system.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 93
6. Discussion
The LGBTQ2S youth homelessness strategy emphasizes
alignment across government programs and systems,
and engages government, communities, and parents and
youth, in building solutions. The strategy fosters a stan-
dardized model of care for all youth serving agencies,
which is necessary in creating accepting, affirming and
supportive environments for youth. Enforcing youth serv-
ing organizations to conform to the same set of for-
mal rules and regulations will influence service providers
to consistently follow standards and create a level of
standardization within the youth serving sector, help-
ing youth know what to expect from services and creat-
ing a more predictable service system for young people
across the province. An integrated provincial LGBTQ2S
training plan will help ensure that youth serving orga-
nizations are familiar with the needs and experiences
of LGBTQ2S youth and help staff navigate discussions
with comfort, ease, and understanding. The implemen-
tation of inclusive intake forms, close consideration of
the physical environment of services (e.g. private and
semi-private rooms with washrooms increase access by
improving safety), and specialized LGBTQ2S housing op-
tions and programs are all critical factors in developing a
targeted response to meet the needs of this population
of young people and promoting an accepting, affirming,
and supportive environment.
LGBTQ2S specialized housing programs are still not
recognized as a priority in the majority of governmen-
tal policies, however, by supporting the development of
LGBTQ2S specific housing options across the province,
and developing the capacity for research that frames
new approaches and solutions to gender and sexual di-
versity within the homeless youth population, the Gov-
ernment of Alberta has set a national standard for how
to address the issue of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
7. Conclusion
Proposals and strategies for ending youth homelessness
should be comprehensive in scope and need to encom-
pass all of the elements that youth need, not only to sur-
vive, but also to thrive. The unique and diverse needs of
all young people must be considered and included. We
must also find ways to collaborate with the young peo-
ple who are affected most by these issues because their
voices matter and they need to be heard and included in
the design of programs and strategies. While the emer-
gency response to youth homelessness remains neces-
sary and important, especially for LGTBQ2S youth who
have recently been kicked out of the house after com-
ing out or forced to leave home due to unsafe condi-
tions; there is also a need for strategies that focus on
longer-term solutions and on helping young people find
and keep housing, as outlined in the recommendations.
Traditional prevention strategies typically focus on strate-
gies that keep youth from becoming homeless in the first
place. However, it may not always be possible to prevent
LGBTQ2S youth from becoming homeless, which is why
we need to place more emphasis on helping youth exit
the streets, so that they do not become adults experienc-
ing chronic homelessness. Although reuniting LGBTQ2S
youth with their parents may not always be an option,
there tends to be at least one supportive family mem-
ber and we need to focus on reuniting youth with those
family members. By developing targeted responses that
focus on subpopulations of young people that are dis-
proportionately represented among homeless youth, we
can change the way that we approach youth homeless-
ness, and ensure that no young person is excluded on
the basis of their gender or sexual identity. A compre-
hensive approach that involves various initiatives is nec-
essary in developing a prevention strategy for this pop-
ulation of youth, as well as continuing to collect data on
LGBTQ2S identity and pathways into homelessness. If we
learn more about the primary causes and risks, we can
better address prevention strategies and work towards
ending LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
This paper has provided an overview of a current po-
litical, social justice, and public health concern, and con-
tributes knowledge to an under researched field of study
by highlighting concrete ways to prevent, reduce, and
end LGBTQ2S youth homelessness.
Acknowledgements
A very special thanks to the courageous young people
who participated in this research—thank you for sharing
your important voices. Thank you to my colleague Corey
Flanders-Foster, for your insightful comments on an ear-
lier draft.
Conflict of Interests
The author declares no conflict of interests.
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About the Author
Alex Abramovich (PhD) is an Independent Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
(CAMH). Alex has been addressing the issue of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness for over 10 years. He
is an internationally recognized leader in the area of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness. Alex’s research
focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ2S youth in shelters and housing programs; access to mental
health services; and how broader policy issues serve to create oppressive contexts for LGBTQ2S youth.
Social Inclusion, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 86–96 96
