Media Releases and Opportunities

Researchers at Dalhousie University are launching a new study to better understand the mental health of 2SLGBTQ+ people in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and how an apparent rise in discrimination and harmful rhetoric may be affecting them.

Patrick Hickey, a PhD candidate in Dal's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, began the project in January by interviewing representatives of organizations that serve members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in both provinces.

The work is continuing with a survey based on information gathered from the earlier interviews, which indicated that people in those communities were being negatively affected by anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric coming out of the U.S. Since taking office, the Trump administration has rolled back policies meant to protect the rights of gay and transgender people, while also recognizing only two sexes, male and female. Statistics Canada has also reported a 69 per cent spike in hate crimes targeting sexual orientation from 2022 to 2023, its most recent data.

The anonymous survey, which will be open until the end of August and hopes to recruit up to 1,000 participants, includes questions for 2SLGBTQ+ people about access to support from friends or family, and how experiences with discrimination have changed their lives. The researchers will also explore ways to limit those effects.

Hickey is available to discuss the research and how it will provide insight into what people are doing to protect their mental health and how that could be used by community organizations to develop new support services or education programs.

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Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca