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Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan (School of Health and Human Performance) started her research career in Ottawa in the 1980s, doing work on HIV. One day, she went to the Gays of Ottawa Centre and saw homophobic and AIDS-related graffiti on the building. Since then, Dr. Gahagan鈥檚 undergraduate (Anthropology and Sociology - Carleton University), Masters (Sociology - University of Windsor) and PhD (Medical Sociology 鈥� Wayne State University) were all related to HIV and health equity.

鈥淭he hateful, visceral reaction to gay people comes from a place of misinformation. Health equity is a way of correcting that information, getting people facts,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 from that queer community so it鈥檚 near and dear to my heart 鈥� that hateful reaction to HIV hit home to gay people.鈥�

Now, Dr. Gahagan鈥檚 research profile has expanded to include many health equity issues for LGBTQ+ people and includes housing and end-of-life care for seniors, access to health care, and plasma donations for gay, bisexual and trans men.

Dr. Gahagan says thanks to anti-viral therapy, a lot of HIV-positive people have survived, but the stigma of those living with HIV is still present. Jacquie is co-lead of national HIV Stigma project in her role as co-Director of the 聽 聽

鈥榃here do you go when you鈥檙e old and gay?鈥�

Dr. Gahagan is currently working on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded project that looks at LGBTQ+ seniors and housing 鈥� an area she says has not been documented enough in this country in terms of data collection or research.

鈥淭here are older queer people who have spent decades fighting violence and hate. They fought for gay rights and now in some circumstances they have to go back in the closest,鈥� she says.

鈥淲here do you go when you鈥檙e old and gay? How do we make sure there are safe and affirming resources, including housing?鈥�

Dr. Gahagan worked with her team to address this knowledge gap. They did a scoping review of international literature for housing for older LGBTQ+ people, conducted an online survey of 1,000 people, and held focus groups in five cities; Halifax, Ottawa, Nanaimo, Winnipeg and Calgary.

From those surveys and focus groups, they heard that senior LGBTQ+ people are particularly 聽afraid of going into long term care facilities. Some people had experienced a lifetime of harassment and discrimination due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, now there was the fear they would face precarious situations or end up homeless.

Collecting better data

A key policy change is the need to collect better national data on the housing issues facing LGBTQ+ Canadians, Dr. Gahagan explains. She says current policies in long term care facilities are not to ask for sexual identity, so people remain anonymous. LGBTQ+ seniors often call facilities and ask how gay-friendly they are, and the answer is, 鈥榳e don鈥檛 have any of those people here鈥�, when the caller knew that they in fact did.

鈥淥ne housing provider said we don鈥檛 feel comfortable asking that question, so I would suggest they change their policy so they can ask people to safely volunteer to provide that information.鈥�

Dr. Gahagan says there is also a need to train staff and residents about LGBTQ+ history 鈥� why it鈥檚 important to residents and find ways to enforce a zero-tolerance policy of discrimination.

鈥淥ne gentleman who participated in our study lives in senior living. He鈥檚 afraid to leave his apartment, he is afraid people know he is gay and HIV positive and he鈥檚 worried about going into the hallway because he thinks he 聽will 聽be harassed or beaten up.鈥�

The next step in this research is to update 聽the original online housing survey and add questions about COVID-19 and how the pandemic has affected their housing experience. In addition, Dr. Gahagan has founded a housing society to move the key findings into action in addressing the unique housing needs of older LGBTQ+ Nova Scotians.

LGBT Senior Archive

Dr. Gahagan is also creating the Nova Scotia LGBT senior archive which will be a permanent collection housed at H漫画鈥檚 Killam Library, with moving exhibits in the Halifax public libraries.

She says the project, funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors, focuses on the baby boomer generation who advanced the rights of LGBTQ+ Canadians, whose stories and contributions risk being lost if not preserved.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really important. I鈥檝e been gay my whole life and I鈥檝e seen people who have pushed the envelope. I was involved in the same sex marriage campaign in Ontario, pushing these basic human rights that have been blocked forever. That generation that survived HIV, the bathhouse raids, the purge from employment in the civil service. I would have loved access to this information when I was in in university.鈥�

Dr. Gahagan says this collection will include photos, newsletters, videos, buttons, banners, etc. and will be a huge resource to students, researchers and the public.

鈥淐reating this permanent collection thrills me to no end. If I had pitched it 10 years ago, I don鈥檛 know if it would have happened. There鈥檚 a great and urgent need to do this sooner than later.鈥�

Other projects

Dr. Gahagan is also working on a two-year study with Canada Blood Services to look at changing the donor screening protocol so that diverse gay, bisexual and trans men can donate plasma.

She is also doing research on for LGBTQ+ seniors 鈥� talking about their preparedness and the availability of queer-friendly resources such as lawyers and funeral home directors.

Another project is looking at breast and gynecological cancers among lesbian, bisexual and transgender Canadians to understand their cancer care journeys.

In addition, Dr. Gahagan is working with the Nova Scotia Authority as an Affiliate Scientist to understand why LGBTQ+ people in Nova Scotia aren鈥檛 accessing health care and why they have worse health outcomes, and what policies can be put in place to make health care more inclusive and accessible.

For more information on Dr. Gahagan鈥檚 health equity-focused program of research, please contact jgahagan@dal.ca, go to or .