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LGBTQ+ people experience significant barriers to employment and lower wages when compared to their cisgender-heterosexual counterparts, contributing to disproportionate rates of poverty. Despite these inequities and their resulting health consequences (e.g., increased anxiety, depression, and isolation), poverty and employment, in tandem, are often-overlooked determinants of health among this population. The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the stories that low-wage and precariously employed queer men shared about their employment.
Methods:
I employed critical narrative inquiry and principles of community-based research to conduct this study. I facilitated 20 in-depth narrative conversations about employment with queer identifying men (cis, trans, and nonbinary) experiencing low-wage or precarious employment in Toronto, Canada. I used Polkinghorne’s narrative analysis to identify patterns and plotlines that occurred within and across participants’ stories. Noticing overlapping and unique stories, I reviewed plotlines based on demographic characteristics, such as country of origin and trans experience, to account for intersectional insights. I then used creative nonfiction to focus and relay the findings to capture participants’ stories and to evoke reader responses.
Results:
Three vignettes are presented to illuminate the unique and intersecting plotlines among participants. Vignette 1 tells an overarching story of queer men navigating a cyclical process, where the stress and mental health toll of their employment affected their ability to find and maintain work as well as hindered their personal lives (e.g., affording housing, gender-affirming surgeries, or fostering social supports). Their stories were entangled with feelings of hopelessness and stress following constant rejection from employers and experiences of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Vignette 2 tells a story of trans and nonbinary participants, whose stories echoed those of the broader queer population, though unique conflicts were observed: having been denied or fired from work when their gender/trans experience was identified; having noticed increased privilege at work following transition; and minimal access to social support through times of financial hardship. Vignette 3 tells a story of newcomer men who shared stories of migration from their home countries where they were highly educated and in secure employment but not safe due to their sexual orientation and/or trans experience. Since working in Toronto, participants have had to navigate their education and work history being discounted while simultaneously facing employment discrimination based on race and accent. This led several participants to hide their sexual orientation at work for fear of adding additional layers of discrimination.
Conclusions and Implications:
LGBTQ+ peoples’ experiences of labour market and social exclusion impact an array of life arenas (e.g., housing, relationships) that extend well beyond the workplace. Implications for practice include tailored employment services and supports for LGBTQ+ people as well as intersectional advocacy efforts with employers to reduce workplace harassment and discrimination. Ongoing education and training for social workers and allied professionals is needed to bring attention to the unique social conditions that structure LGBTQ+ people’s employment, food and housing security, feelings of safety, and support networks. Lastly, intersectional research is needed to understand why current labour laws fail to ensure equitable labour markets.