The Policy Paradox

In recent decades, Canada has enacted a series of legislative and policy protections to ensure that 2SLGBTQI people have equal and fair access to health, wellbeing, and safety. And yet, we continue to see a large gap in health status between 2SLGBTQI people and cisgender-heterosexual (cishet) people. We created Rainbow Canada to help us understand this paradox.

For example, in Canada today, 2SLGBTQI people experience anxiety and depression at a prevalence more than double that of cishet people. In other words, the improvements in social and legal protections have not resulted in measurable improvements in health disparities.

As 2SLGBTQI researchers and health advocates, we wanted to understand this paradox. So, we charted 2SLGBTQI-affirming laws and policies that have been enacted in Canada since 1975. We used an index created to compare laws and policies adopted across European countries. As you can see below, Canada has demonstrated gradual progress by this measure.

The index has evolved over time, yet policy threats have evolved even faster. For example, in 2023, at least two provinces enacted regressive policies to constrain how teachers may respect the affirmed genders (chosen name and pronouns) of gender nonconforming and transgender students. These policies are not currently captured in the index.

So, while you read the information contained in this website, please keep an eye out for what is missing. Are there relevant 2SLGBTQI-affirming (or disaffirming) policies that are missing from the index? Are there reasons the policies that have been enacted are failing to result in the improvements in health and well-being that we might hope for? Please send us an email to share your thoughts with us!