Publications

Pandemic rules were not written with queer lives in mind, according to gay, bisexual, and queer men across Canada. Researchers conducted two rounds of semi-structured interviews with 93 men in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver between late 2020 and late 2021, analyzing them through cis-heteronormativity and intersectionality. Participants described stay-at-home orders and gathering limits as reinforcing heterosexual models of kinship, while restricted access to queer spaces damaged their sense of belonging and identity. Others noted the directives ignored homelessness and structural racism among queer people. The findings show how COVID-19 messaging overlooked chosen kinship, community organizations, and varied LGBTQ+ vulnerabilities.

When COVID-19 pushed health care online almost overnight, what did that mean for gay, bisexual, and queer men, a group already facing sexual and mental health disparities? This analysis draws on 93 semi-structured interviews in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, conducted in two waves between late 2020 and late 2021, using a sociomaterial lens that examines how people, technologies, and settings interact. Virtual care brought benefits and improved access for some men while creating disruptions and challenges for others, and it required participants to adapt, including learning new ways of communicating with providers. The framework helps pinpoint what works and what needs improving.

Long clinic waits and inconvenient hours push many people to put off sexual health testing. Drawing on Sex Now 2019, a bilingual community-based online survey, researchers asked 1,369 gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Ontario about barriers to clinic-based STBBI testing and whether they would use an online testing model. Being too busy and inconvenient clinic hours were common reasons for delay. Acceptability of online testing reached 80 percent, with saved time the leading benefit and privacy the leading concern. Younger men, immigrants of colour and Indigenous immigrants were more receptive; current PrEP users somewhat less so.

Canadian evidence on how COVID-19 affected 2SLGBTQ+ communities is thin, and this analysis focuses on trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people. It draws on Engage COVID-19, a mixed methods study in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, where in-depth interviews with 93 participants were conducted across two waves between late 2020 and late 2021; seventeen participants were trans, nonbinary or gender nonconforming. They described barriers to trans healthcare early in the pandemic, and some found lockdowns eased the pressure to perform gender because of fewer in-person encounters. Online community networks grew, yet losing physical community spaces still harmed mental health and social support.

Femmephobia, the social policing of femininity, shapes how gay, bisexual, and queer men treat one another on dating and hookup apps. This qualitative analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with 79 people who described using these socio-sexual applications and interacting with online outreach and health information workers. Read through femme theory, the accounts show masculinity being privileged while femininity is devalued, influencing how men present themselves and how they judge others. Participants also describe femmephobia overlapping with anti-Asian racism online. The work argues that the regulation of femininity is a distinct and under-discussed harm within queer digital spaces that deserves closer attention.