This text is part of the special section 100 years of Acfas
In the early 2000s, the recognition of rights for sexual diversity made giant leaps in Quebec. Behind the scenes, a generation of social scientists is partnering with activists to advance knowledge and bills.
In battalion formation, police prevent the crowd from leaving. Some shout homophobic slurs and beat up attendees at a party at the Sex Garage, a Montreal speakeasy for the LGBTQ community. We are in July 1990.
A decade later, the National Assembly adopted a law allowing the civil union of homosexual couples and ratified provisions on adoption and assisted procreation. After the Quiet Revolution and the sexual revolution, we had to wait until the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s to witness the spectacular advancement of LGBTQ rights in Quebec. Scientific research, which is only just beginning to be subsidized, plays a catalytic role in the social transformations underway.
A stigma that is hard to eradicate
For decades in the province, homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Science focuses on understanding the causes and treatments for what is considered a “deviation”. Researchers who are interested in it are automatically labeled as being homosexual.
“What liberated research was the arrival of AIDS,” recalls Michel Dorais, professor at the School of Social Work and Criminology at Laval University, now retired. The people most affected are gay men, and we don’t know anything, because we’ve never been interested in that. And that’s where it becomes a legitimate research field. »
With the HIV epidemic, it was necessary to establish a bond of trust hitherto absent in order to identify and avoid risky behaviors and reach the most vulnerable populations, adds Line Chamberland, associate professor in the Department of sexology at the University of Quebec in Montreal and holder of the Research Chair on Homophobia.
“It has made it possible to develop medical services for gay men,” she observes. It changed the dynamic of collaboration between the health sciences and the community around AIDS. »
At the time, a few rare researchers also pointed to the social, historical or cultural dimensions of LGBTQ issues. In 2000, Michel Dorais sounded the alarm on the risk of suicide among young gays with his book dead or fif. He is interested in boys who are victims of sexual assault or, even, in those who engage in prostitution.
For her part, Line Chamberland raises awareness in trade unions and workplaces about homophobic discrimination. She carried out a study on homophobia in the school environment, which showed that homophobia is much more widespread and trivialized than previously thought, prompting the Ministry of Education to develop a policy and tools to fight against it. discrimination.
Committed knowledge
During this effervescent period, researchers began to partner with activists to advance knowledge. In the late 1990s, the Association of Lesbian Mothers of Montreal pressured the Quebec government to change the Civil Code. At the time, homosexual women and men found it extremely difficult to obtain custody rights over their children when they coming out.
“It was a very problematic context at the time; the judges doubted that lesbian mothers could be good parents. It was even worse for gay fathers, says Danielle Julien, a retired professor from the Department of Psychology at UQAM. These were heartbreaking choices for these people. »
Most respondents to surveys say they are open to same-sex union, but the Quebec population is worried about the fate of children. At the time, the few studies on the issue came mainly from research commissioned by mothers claiming custody of their children in the United States and England. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the development of children, whether they are raised by heteroparental or homoparental families.
“It is in this context that the government established a parliamentary commission, and I went to present the development of children to say what we knew about this reality, says Ms.me Julian. I really felt like the earth was moving. I never thought I would live in a context where research would have such participation. We were a lot of actors from different backgrounds and we felt that the population was ready for things to change. »
In consultation with the communities concerned, research on LGBTQ issues is gradually gaining recognition. The approach of science is often engaged, geared towards social change.
“AIDS has decimated young researchers, academics who were destined to do extraordinary things,” laments Michel Dorais, who is stepping up efforts to compensate for these losses. In recent years, he has published numerous books, such as Little gayrilla manual for young people, in which he popularizes his research work for the general public. “I want the culture to change and evolve, research must fit into a culture, we must change society. »
“I think that science has come to support the advancement of certain ideas, underlines Élisabeth Brousseau, associate lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault. For there to have been legal changes in society, mentalities first had to evolve. »
Research, a constant role
Twenty years after the adoption of Bill 84, which recognizes homosexual couples, research continues to make progress. “You know that today the subject is one of the most popular at the university! exclaims Michel Dorais. These realities have been silent for too long, there is some catching up to do! »
“We may say: ‘It’s bad, homophobia’, there are still some in the hospital, at school, in society, in the streets, observes Élisabeth Brousseau. Among the major projects that interest us, there is also the trans issue and the fact that men who want to have a family cannot use surrogate mothers. Finally, I wonder what western countries, like Canada, are doing from a diplomatic and international law point of view to concretely advance LGBTQ rights elsewhere in the world. Otherwise, we are still citizens at home, but we still lose many rights as soon as we set foot outside our territory. »