Environmental Health, Health Equity, and Pride

This blog post was written by Editorial Volunteer Aranee Mahendiran and Executive Director Victoria Lewis, edited by WHEN Board Members Kanisha Acharya-Patel and Charlotte Hobson.

WHEN advocates for all women, including cis and trans women, as well as intersex and non-binary individuals. Environmental health harms affect the body differently depending on sex, gender, race, and other identity factors. We all deserve healthy environments. 

Environmental health risks do not affect everyone equally. 2SLGBTQQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersexual, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender and all others) individuals and communities can face unique barriers in accessing healthcare, obtaining reliable health information, and advocating for their needs. As we learn more about endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), it's important to consider how environmental exposures intersect with existing health inequities. As you read through this piece, the terms Queer and 2SLGBTQQIA+ will be used interchangeably. 

Intersectionality in Environmental Health & Justice 

Pride is a celebration of 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities and their resilience in fighting for their rights and protections. It is also an opportunity to reflect on history, current issues, and achieving social, environmental, and health justice. 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals often face barriers to healthcare access, discrimination by healthcare providers, and challenges navigating systems not designed to accommodate their needs. Environmental health conversations must recognize these realities and work towards the inclusivity of diverse identities and experiences. 

Health status is shaped by various determinants or factors, including gender identity, sexual orientation, race, disability, income, and geography. 2SLGBTQQIA+ and Indigenous individuals whose identities exist across the intersection of these factors face compounded barriers and health risks, including reduced access to healthcare and a greater likelihood of engaging in harmful health behaviours. 

The lack of representation in research can make it difficult to understand how environmental exposures affect different communities. Environmental exposure is not equal among all individuals, and to effectively identify gaps in accessibility and appropriate care, it is necessary to include these overlapping determinants and factors within environmental health research. Achieving health equity (fair and equal opportunity to be healthy) and justice (eliminating systems that create poor health) for our Queer, Trans, Intersex, and Two-spirit communities means reducing disproportionate environmental exposures and addressing health disparities (preventable health differences), cultural competency (ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds), stigmatization (negative attitudes), and discrimination (treating some people unfairly) in our health care systems. 

Hormone Health and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Our bodies are made up of many different systems that manage our daily functions. One of those systems is the endocrine system. The endocrine system produces hormones, a type of chemical messenger that communicates to different parts of the body to balance your sleep, mood, hunger, growth, metabolism (transforming food into energy), sexual function, and reproduction (your body’s ability to have children).  

The communication between different bodily organs can be disrupted in many different ways and can lead to health issues. One of those disruptions can be caused by environmental toxicants, such as parabens, phthalates, and bisphenols, which are chemicals often found in many of our everyday consumer products. These chemicals may “mimic” or look like the hormones produced in your body, or block hormones from travelling where they need to be. These chemicals cause disturbances to your body’s functioning, and for that reason, these chemicals are referred to as Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, or EDCs for short.   

The impact of the chemicals found in our everyday environments can disproportionately affect some communities more than others. 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities already face greater health inequities, with a higher risk of chronic conditions, cancers, certain STIs (sexually transmitted infections), as well as a greater risk of suicide ideation than others. With the rise of environmental toxicants in our spaces, Queer, Trans, Intersex, and Two Spirit individuals face additional barriers and hurdles to these new environmental health challenges. 

For additional information on how to limit your exposure to EDC’s found in your everyday products and environments, read our other recent blogs.       

Healthcare Inequities

Canada has a history of not providing the respect and care that the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community deserves. From discrimination, violence, criminalizing their identities, allowing nonconsensual surgeries on intersex children and completely failing to provide care during health epidemics, the Queer community has been harmed in so many ways.

Even today, Queer, Trans, Intersex, and Two Spirit people face barriers to their safety and access to healthcare services. While Canada continues to posture progressive and inclusive values, the state often leaves members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community excluded, stigmatized, and disregarded, especially in relation to the rolling back of trans rights and safety. According to Pink Triangle Press, the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community experiences greater health disparities, reduced quality of life, inadequate access or satisfaction with care, systemic discrimination, structural barriers and mistrust. With growing concerns around environmental health impacts, how are members of the Queer, Trans, Intersex, and Two Spirit community expected to receive attention to those matters when they are continuously excluded from receiving care that meets their needs? 

An example of Queer-specific care is gender-affirming care, which is made up of a variety of supports and care that affirms a person’s identity (matching their physical identity from birth with their gender identity). One aspect of gender-affirming care is hormone therapies. Currently, there is not enough research or evidence around the impact of EDCs on hormone therapies, but we do know they can be disruptive to hormones in the body. Advocating for greater investment in research on the impact of EDCs, while also advocating for gender-affirming care to be seen as medically-necessary are key environmental and health issues in Canada.

Local Community Resources and Support 

We hope you learned a little bit about health, the environment and how it impacts Queer, Trans, Intersex, and Two-Spirit communities. Below is a list of organizations and clinics that focus on providing appropriate support and care to 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.

  • The 519 (Resource hub, multiple programs)

Interested in learning more? Find out what is working in 2SLGBTQQIA+ healthcare, what needs to change, and what the future of healthcare will look like by listening to experts and innovators on the Health in Focus Podcast by Rainbow Health Ontario.

Happy Pride to our 2SLGBTQQIA+ community that makes Toronto a brighter and more wonderful place. May we work together to build safer, healthier, and more just futures for all. 

From your friends at WHEN. 

Our Updated Blog Disclaimer

As an environmental health organization committed to equity and inclusion, we periodically review our language to ensure it reflects the communities we serve and the values we uphold. We have updated our blog disclaimer to more accurately and respectfully acknowledge the diversity of identities when we discuss those affected by environmental health harms. Our revised language affirms with greater clarity that “women” includes both cis and trans women, while also acknowledging that intersex and non-binary individuals may experience environmental health impacts related to sex- and gender-based biological and social factors.

We also clarified our description of vulnerability to environmental harms to explicitly recognize that environmental health outcomes are shaped not only by sex and gender, but also by race and other intersecting identity factors. This change better reflects the principles of environmental justice and the evidence that environmental exposures and their health impacts are not experienced equally across populations.

Our goal is to use language that is inclusive, accurate, and reflective of the diverse communities advocating for and deserving of healthy environments.