KW Counselling Services is an organization that provides both walk-in and ongoing counselling to individuals, couples and families.
In 2005, we recognized that in order to best serve the LGBTQ2+ community we needed specialized supports, and the OK2BME program was born. We provide free counselling to rainbow youth aged five to 29, we have four different youth leadership and recreation groups, and we offer public education services that include providing free, ongoing support to our local school boards and their GSAs, or gay-straight alliances, as well as education and consultations to such organizations as our police force, hospitals, municipalities and local businesses.
We would like to share some data from Waterloo region. We are fortunate to have what we call the “OutLook” study, which is the largest study of its kind in Canada. It looked at levels of harassment, discrimination, victimization, outness, safety, isolation, inclusion, health and mental health care experiences amongst LGBTQ2+ people.
In this study we found that 42% of trans people and 30% of lesbian, gay or bisexual people had to move away from their friends and family because of their gender identity or sexuality; that 50% of trans respondents and 45% of cisgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual respondents experience verbal harassment in our community; that a majority of trans people, 72%, feel unsafe in hospitals, emergency rooms, medical offices and urgent care clinics; that 26% of trans respondents were either hit or beaten up because of their gender identity; and that a majority, 73%, of respondents said they feel they will die young.