Health committee  I want to think about intersectional education and training as well. In the social work context, we're taking up the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and part of this is thinking about how we decolonize education. I have a million thoughts right now, because I think one of the things that happens around sexuality is that our lives get reduced to sex.

Health committee  I think other people on the panel may have some views on this, as well. I have one point of clarification. The home-care project focused on in-home care. Residential facilities would be considered in-home, although we didn't include them in our study, because we felt they were different, in terms of the institutional context.

Health committee  In terms of my recommendation, it was about how to bring the information and knowledge we have into the curriculum. How do we develop a curriculum in a way that isn't just about imparting knowledge but also transforming people's beliefs, attitudes and ideas? While there may be research being done, I'm not sure that all HIV/AIDS research is focused on queer and trans communities, HPV, women's reproduction and HIV.

Health committee  We can't leave the humanities and social sciences out of this. Equity studies, women and gender studies are the places where nurses, social workers and physicians will get access to much more theoretically rich and engaged discussions around sexuality and gender.

Health committee  Just for clarification purposes, are you suggesting training and education are fundamental pieces?

Health committee  Sure. I think there has been an advancement of rights for LGBTQ people in Canada. However, I'm not convinced that gaining rights has been hugely successful in changing attitudes, beliefs and values. In some ways, yes, but in other ways, no. We still see deeply held homophobic, transphobic, biphobic, lesbophobic beliefs and attitudes day to day.

Health committee  Madam Chair and members of the standing committee, good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to present to you on LGBTQ2 health. I commend you on taking this important step in conducting the first study on LGBTQ2 health in Canada. I'm a social worker with more than a decade of front-line experience in community-based mental health, including providing counselling services to members of Toronto's LGBTQ2 communities.