The Vision
This Space is committed to providing safer, more inclusive space and resources for 2S/LGBTQIA+, and/or IBPOC people (12 to age 24) within the Syilx Okanagan.
Our vision is to create a safer space where queer and Indigenous, Black, and People of Color (IBPOC) individuals can access high-quality services that meet their unique needs and experiences. We aim to center their voices and experiences in our approach to service delivery and to work towards dismantling systemic barriers that perpetuate discrimination and marginalization.
Our vision is to open a queer-inclusive/focused, and/or IBPOC inclusive drop-in resource center for those aged 12-24 in the Syilx Okanagan offering interdisciplinary and multifaceted mental health and culturally safe support.
Accessing any form of social service support (ie. mental health, harm reduction, trans-affirming care and decolonial care) remains a scary and dangerous place for queer and IBPOC people. There needs to be systems and an organization that directly aims to meet the needs of IBPOC and/or 2S/LGTBTQ+ people.
Please visit the DONATE portion on our website to contribute to this vision and/or email meaghan@thisspacebelongstoyou.com
“Sexual and gender diverse communities in British Columbia experience significant health disparities when compared to the general population. These disparities are rooted in long-standing social and cultural issues that have served to disadvantage these communities and perpetuate stigma and discrimination” (HEC, pg. 2, 2019).IBPOC Support/Safety
Grassroots since 2019
The Truth
Queer and people of colour (QTBIPOC) exist in a system that was not designed for us and must apply some “normalcy” and “respectability” to achieve some acceptance among services. Many services pathologize, shame and judge these groups.
Many of these individuals/youths are subject to violence at higher rates and do not have spaces within the Okanagan that is entirely inclusive or free from hate. These are collective experiences.
The Statistics
LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020)
The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.
In Plain Site released in BC, “84% of Indigenous peoples described personal experiences of racism and discrimination that discouraged them from seeking necessary care and that reduced access to care, negatively affecting their health. These outcomes reinforce stereotypes and perpetuate the cycle of inequity”.
The Trevor Project’s research has found that queer youth of colour were 2.5 times more likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year (33%) compared to their LGBTQ peers (14%).
The Trevor Project’s research consistently finds that LGBTQ young people report lower rates of attempting suicide when they have access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces. The Trevor Project’s research has found that LGBTQ youth who reported having at least one LGBTQ-affirming space had 35% reduced odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the past year — the strongest association being with LGBTQ-affirming schools.
Many programs have created radical alternatives to the mainstream healthcare system (Sharman, 2021). this is the hope for a multidisciplinary center for This Space. A space offering gender-affirming care, mental health support, indigenous wellness and advocacy, connection to culture, education and learning, and case management for BIPOC and queer youth with an organizational structure of staff, peers and volunteers.