To support formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted Black LGBTQ individuals in their re-entry journey. Our mission is to promote holistic affirming intervention, healing, and rehabilitation through research and policy implementation, guiding individuals from incarceration to a life of freedom and empowerment.

Background: The project investigates community re-entry experiences for former federally and provincially incarcerated Black gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary Men (BGBTQM) and Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) including same-gender sex, desires, relationships, identities, and love for other men, with the aim of advancing Black GBTQM+ justice.

This group is one outcome of the first national bilingual study in Canada, led by Dr. Wesley Crichlow at Ontario Tech University for the period August 2023 to April 2024, investigating the intersectional matrix effects of homophobia, transphobia, stigma, systemic trauma, and anti-Black racism on justice impacted re-entry needs for BGBTQM and BMSM. This study seeks to expand extant understandings of injustice and multiple marginalization’s experienced by Black FFI BGTQM, BMSM, gender nonconforming and nonbinary people to include their perspectives on re-entry after being incarcerated.

Research Findings: The research demonstrates the limits of the current Black community criminal justice approach by challenging the erasure of Black GBTQM+ bodies from the narrative. This research, conducted during COVID-19, surveyed over 200 formerly incarcerated BGTQM individuals and interviewed more than 25 others over 9 months about their hopes and experiences re-entering the community. It is the first national bilingual study in Canada to explore the intersectional impacts of homophobia, transphobia, systemic incarcerated trauma, and anti-Black racism on the re-entry needs of these individuals. Our findings highlight the urgent need for tailored employment mentoring support systems, and housing, addressing the unique challenges faced by formerly incarcerated Black GBTQM+ people with diverse gender identities. The project highlights key findings from the survey and interviews. The study revealed significant gaps in support systems for this demographic, demonstrates the importance of tailored re-entry programs and community resources to facilitate successful rehabilitation and integration.

Dr. Wesley Crichlow Lead Researcher: “Our findings underscore the critical need for tailored support systems to address the unique justice impacted and re-entry challenges faced by formerly incarcerated Black men with diverse gender experiences.

From our surveys and interviews about their immediate needs and hopes for after leaving prison, the gay and trans Black men we spoke to repeat the same wishes, over and over. They seek “a job, job training skills, education and a home”. Unlike most research on white gay criminology which focuses on identity, for Black GBTQM+ it is about survival in which immediate needs, for livelihood/employment and for housing, overwhelm all other considerations as they consider their futures after prison. Clearly, the right to housing and jobs is rooted in the intersections of race and sexual orientation. Taking up these concerns demands that we move beyond the concept of race alone to consider the. Interactions of race, sexual orientation, gender expression and being justice impacted, on access to housing and jobs.

Addressing vital, immediate need for housing and jobs and employment training is an immediate pathway to addressing the needs of justice impacted Black GBTQM+ individuals, requiring centred supports that challenge Black LGBTQI+ anti-Black racism and related discriminations. If we are to open the political horizons of these men and genderqueer individuals, this demands that we first meeting immediate needs for gainful employment and housing.

This project is rooted in the very first national bilingual study in Canada to investigate the intersectional matrix effects of anti-Black racism, stigma, systemic trauma, homophobia, transphobia, and sexuality on re-entry for BGBTQM and BMSM.