“We want to do more than survive. We want to live. »
James Galantino, general director of the Quebec LGBT Council, did not hesitate to launch this cry from the heart while he participated in the presentation of the new Plan to combat homophobia and transphobia of the government of Quebec, Thursday in Montreal.
The Minister responsible for the Status of Women and responsible for this fight, Martine Biron, estimated that the new plan, the envelope of which was doubled to reach $24.7 million over five years, had become essential “in a particularly difficult right now with LGBTQ communities.”
“Honestly, American anti-LGBTQ hate speech worries me greatly,” M said several times.me Biron. I wanted this fight plan to be a response, a way of working, to lead us to counter the rise in violence, the rise in intimidation, the rise in intolerance. »
Addressed in the street
Although she notes a polarization of the debate among our neighbors to the south, she also recognizes that “it is slowly rising here”.
Leaders of community groups, she said, report that members of the LGBTQ+ community are being addressed in the street, which was not the case before. Derogatory remarks, which were mainly confined to social networks, are now asserted without restraint in the streets. “It’s there, this rise in hatred, in intimidation, so we have to do something,” says Martine Biron.
“This rise in intolerance is our new daily life,” confirms James Galantino. We feel it and live it every day. […] The effectiveness of this social turnaround worries us greatly. »
It is organizations like his that will receive the lion’s share of the new envelope, i.e. $11 million.
“The organizations are good, know their clientele well. Sometimes better than us. We need community organizations to help us move forward and tell us what is happening on the ground,” admits M bluntly.me Biron.
Mr. Galantino is delighted with the content of the plan, saying he recognizes several of the organizations’ requests. “We feel we have been heard this time. »
But if the general director of the Quebec LGBT Council is delighted with the marked increase in the amounts found there, he did not fail to emphasize that this envelope is “still insufficient to resolve the issue of underfinancing that live LGBTQ+ organizations.”
Raising awareness first and foremost
The main objectives of the plan are to support LGBTQ+ community intervention, promote respect for the rights of people from sexual and gender diversity, as well as improve the administrative practices of public services.
It includes more than forty measures focused on raising awareness in several sectors of activity and among stakeholders in all areas, ranging from education to police services.
MP Christine Labrie, responsible for this issue at Québec solidaire, welcomes the increased funding in the fight against homophobia and transphobia. However, she considers it “disappointing that we persist in maintaining funding by project, while the organizations ask that it be at the mission in order to free them from significant administrative stress and ensure their sustainability.” She also very favorably welcomes the fact that “a step has been taken in terms of prevention and training within our public services”.