Press Release

January 29, 2002

Egale to Consult with Minority Queers on the Intersection of Race and Sexual Orientation

Following its participation in last year’s World Conference Against Racism in Durban, Egale intends to consult with minority members of the LGBT community on how racism and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity intersect.

Egale Canada advances equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and their families, across Canada. EGALE is committed to recognizing the links between different forms of oppression, and building alliances among various disadvantaged communities to affirm the universality of human rights and the principle of equal dignity for all. EGALE is a member of the NGO Steering Committee for the World Conference Against Racism. Two Egale representatives (Kim Vance and Fiona Meyer Cook) attended WCAR and the NGO forum in South Africa. In preparation for this historic event, EGALE undertook a project that specifically explored the intersections of race and sexual orientation. The first stage of the project resulted in a research paper: The Intersection Of Sexual Orientation & Race: Considering The Experiences Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered People of Colour and Two-Spirited People (“GLBT People Of Colour & Two-Spirited People”) written by Wayne van der Meide. The full text of this paper can be found in English, French and Spanish on the Egale website at www.egale.ca.

Egale will continue its work on the intersectionality of race and sexual orientation by consulting with GLBT and two-spirited people who are people of colour and are actively working on issues of race/sexual orientation. The consultation will take place on February 16th and 17th in Toronto. The purpose of the consultation is to define and discuss the issues, to discuss what Egale can do in terms of its makeup and mandate to best serve LGBT people of colour and two-spirited people, and to discuss how Egale can effectively work as an ally with other equality-seeking organisations and communities Egale also intends to report back to LGBT and two-spirited people of colour on its participation in the WCAR.

As part of the consultation, a moderated open community forum at Toronto City Hall is planned for the night of February 16th. It will take place in meeting room 1 of Toronto City Hall from 7 till 9 p.m. This forum is a chance for Egale to hear from a wider range of community members on the issues in question.

For further information:
John Fisher, Executive Director, EGALE: 1-888-204-7777
Wayne Van der Meide, WCAR Project Advisory Committee, Egale

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Advancing equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people and their families across Canada