When I was applying for jobs prior to joining CHRA/CIH Canada, it was my first time applying while being out as nonbinary; it was also the longest and most difficult job search I’ve ever gone through. It only recently dawned on me (newly out and sometimes naïve as I am) that the two are connected. Had I been applying to jobs outside of the nonprofit, social sphere, it likely would have occurred to me earlier. In the end, I’m glad it took me over nine months and hundreds of applications, as my role with CHRA and CIH is the best fit I think I have ever had in my life.

For a work blog, this is already getting pretty personal, but my story is not unique. According to the most recent 2SLGBTQIA+ Action Plan Survey from Women and Gender Equality Canada, 43% of respondents felt that sharing information about their gender identity in the hiring process would reduce their chances of being hired at a non-2SLGBTQIA+ establishment, with Transgender women responding numbers as high as 69%.

While we are looking at numbers, only 28% of non-binary/agender people surveyed said that they were comfortable sharing their gender identity in the workplace. The numbers can be broken down further based on race, sexual orientation, and more.

All this information Mel­­­­—­where is it leading us? Just a bit more background and then I promise I will get there.

At my previous job, I was lucky to be a part of a 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of Practice. We were people from all over Alberta working in the Domestic Violence World, and most of us were in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community; there were some allies who came as well. In this group, I saw the struggles and joys of people living their authentic selves at work. Though we were not all at the same organization, we all had the same purpose, and we often had the same struggles. While working on cool projects like inclusion maps, a guide for gaps, and inclusion practices in documents at work, we also chatted about what it was like to be misgendered in the workplace, what discrimination looked like, and how we could stand up for ourselves and for others. With the help of this Community of Practice, I became comfortable on the she/her-she/they-they/she-they/them journey. I wasn’t the only taking these steps in discovering who I was and being comfortable in my identity, and having others alongside me encouraged me in ways I cannot adequately put into words. I don’t know if I would know who I really am, or be as comfortable with who that person is, if it were not for the Community of Practice.

Having been in a strong community like that, after my first CHRA Congress in 2024 in New Brunswick, I was started chatting with a colleague at a different organization. This colleague had stood up for me when I was being misgendered, and their encouragement in that moment reminded me of how I had felt in the Community of Practice, and I wanted to bring a community like that to the Canadian Housing staffing context.

We started a Housers 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of Practice shortly after that, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of traction yet. The meetings we have had and the people I have met have been fantastic, and my hope with putting this blog out is that maybe I can reach a few more people, and we can start to build a solid community of communication, support, trust, and advocacy. We work for great organizations, with a great cause. We work with great humans, but there are still unique struggles for those of us in the community. If you are in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community or are an ally willing to do some of the work, I would encourage you to join. We meet on the fourth Monday of the month at 12:00 EST; send me an invite to join (mel@chra-achru.ca). Our next meeting is in October, as I will be away in September. I truly hope to see you there.