Event Date: March 14, 2018 - 11:30am to 1:00pm
Location: FSS4004, 120 Université Privé

Presented by CIPS and The Refugee Hub

In the face of ongoing challenges faced by LGBTI individuals around the world, Canada operates a refugee program that prioritizes the admission of individuals facing persecution on the basis of their sexuality.  This wonderfully successful program recognizes that although Canadian law officially recognizes the equality of LGBTI individuals, other countries – in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond – continue to criminalize queer sexualities in horrific ways.  Yet even in Canada, LGBTI migrants face challenges in accessing sensitive and sexuality-appropriate services across a range of domains. Speakers at this panel will compare and contrast the hopes and challenges of LGBTI individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa and Canada, including from the perspective of those who have migrated from one to the other.  The panel will be moderated by Patti Tamara Lenard, co-chair of Rainbow Haven, and Associate Professor of Applied Ethics in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.  Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers.

Showing of the documentary, “I didn’t know freedom would be so cold: Gambian LGBTI newcomers in Ottawa” produced by Rainbow Haven, filmed and directed by Radamis Zaky, with support from the University of Ottawa’s Refugee Hub.

Marc Epprecht, Department of Global Development Studies, Queen’s University
“Challenges of LGBTI individuals in Africa south of the Sahara”

Edward Ou Jin Lee, École de travail social, Université de Montréal
“Tracing the trajectory of the literature on LGBTQI migrants living in Canada”

Fatou Joof, newcomer to Canada

A light lunch will be served. This event is open to the public.