Thursday, May 19 2016
ST. JOHN’S — Yesterday the All-Party Committee on Mental Health and Addictions reconvened its public consultation in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Egale was present at the consultation to represent the disproportionately extraneous mental health needs of Canada’s LGBTQ2SI communities. Research shows that Canadian LGBTQ2SI youth and adults are impacted greatly by mental illness and addiction due to systematic stigma and discrimination, and suffer higher instances of suicidality than their non-LGBTQ2SI peers. It was Egale’s objective to emphasize the need for LGBTQ2SI-specific mental health services and LGBTQ2SI-inclusivity training for stakeholders, professionals, community leaders, and policy makers, as well as educational policies that speak to the mental health needs of LGBTQ2SI youth in Canada.
Egale felt encouraged by the opportunity to speak to the committee and hopes that its expertise in the areas of LGBTQ2SI mental health and inclusivity policy making will capture the attention of the committee and underline the great need for national focus on this matter.
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