06/01/2026
My most recent visit to Vancouver really highlighted the importance of Pride Month and the stark realities that a majority of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth face.
Pride began in cities like this one. In the streets, in protest, in community care when the systems meant to protect people turned their backs.
Walking through the Downtown Eastside, past the encampments along East Hastings, I felt the weight of that history in a way no textbook could teach.
So many of the faces I saw were young. So many carried the particular grief of being pushed out, of having nowhere that felt like home.
That grief is not isolated to one street or one city. The data across Canada tells a story we can’t and shouldn’t look away from.
Up to 40% of young people who ate unhoused identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, while this community makes up only 5 to 10% of all youth. 2SLGBTQIA+ Canadians are more than twice as likely to experience houselessness or housing insecurity in their lifetime.
For so many, the path to the street begins at home, with rejection over who they are or who they love.
This is why inclusive spaces matter.
Not as a nice idea, rather as a lifeline. When a young person has one place where they are seen and celebrated exactly as they are, everything can change.
In my new role as Executive Director of ARC Foundation, I get to champion this work on a national scale.
Through our SOGI 123 initiative, educators across the country build inclusive classrooms where every student belongs.
Because the school down the street, in every province, can be the place that says you are wanted here.
This Pride Month and every month, we stand alongside all 2SLGBTQIA+ folks, and especially 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
