June 1, 2026, TORONTO 鈥� Birthed from a 1969 uprising as a response to police violence at a New 91亚色 City dive bar called the Stonewall Inn, Pride has grown into a global movement, with Toronto-area celebrations among the largest in the world. Drawing on years of community-engaged research and large-scale data sets, 91亚色 researchers are available to talk to media about historical struggles and current issues facing those in 2SLGBTQIA+ communities today.

Antony Chum

  (he/him, they/them) is the Canada Research Chair in Population Health Data Science and an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health. His research focuses on LGBTQ+ health disparities and the structural determinants of health among marginalized populations, such as low-income, racialized, and gender-diverse groups. By applying quasi-experimental approaches to large-scale population datasets drawn from Census, linked health administrative, and international sources, Chum generates population-level evidence on how structural barriers and public policies shape health and related social and economic outcomes.

颁丑耻尘鈥檚 , "Beyond the Gender Binary: Wage Inequality and Occupational Segregation among Transgender and Nonbinary Workers," utilizes data from the 2021 Canadian Census, the first national census in the world to collect and identify data on transgender and nonbinary individuals. The study found significant employment and wage gaps, with transgender and nonbinary individuals being eight to 14 per cent less likely to be employed than cisgender men and earn 20 to 30 per cent lower hourly wages on average. Even after adjusting for demographic, occupational, and industrial factors, a substantial earnings gap remains, hitting nonbinary individuals assigned female at birth the hardest.

Chum is available to discuss other studies including:

• Upcoming research that demonstrates that progressive political environments act as crucial protective factors, actively mitigating the minority stress that drives elevated rates of suicidality and substance use in sexual minority populations
• Gender minorities facing drastically higher risks for physical, cognitive, and mental activity limitations
• Transgender and non-binary individuals facing significantly higher rates of housing instability than cisgender individuals
• Severe disparities in severe substance-related events, pinpointing bisexual women as facing the highest risk (more than double that of heterosexual women)

Jin Haritaworn

is an expert of gay imperialism, homonationalism and pinkwashing. They have studied the gentrification and securitization of the Church-Wellesley Village and look critically at the incorporation of Pride into the neoliberal city. They also explore queer of colour maps and counter-archives. Haritaworn is Associate Professor of Gender, Race and Environment in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change. They locate their work in the tradition of activist scholarship, which attempts to be in the service of communities. Their research deals with landscapes that are shaped by racial and colonial capitalism, where celebration and incorporation exist alongside pathologization and criminalization. Their first two books, and , explore how certain mixed-race and LGBT subjects became desirable in a context of war on terror, neoliberal multiculturalism and the global city in London and Berlin.

Haritaworn is available to discuss:

• Gentrification and criminalization in the Village
• Queer of colour archives and activism
• Homonationalism and gay imperialism

Tom Hooper

(he/him) is a historian of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada and a professor with the department of equity studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). His research includes exploring the 1981 bathhouse raids in Toronto where more than three hundred gay men were arrested and criminally charged for their sexuality, with a focus on the community resistance to these raids both on the streets and in the courts. Hooper critically examined the construction of dominant queer historical narratives, including the myth that legal changes in 1969 represented the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Hooper also investigated the use and misuse of heritage grants provided to 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations.

Hooper is available to comment on:

• 2SLGBTQIA+ protest movements
• Policing and pride
• 2SLGBTQIA+ history

Nick Mul茅

(he/him) is a professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women鈥檚 Studies and the School of Social Work, LA&PS. He teaches sexual activism, and social justice. His research areas include advocacy, and the social inclusion 鈥� and exclusion 鈥� of gender and and sexually diverse populations (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two-spirit, genderqueer, intersex, queer, questioning 鈥� 2SLGBTQIA+) in social policy and service provision and the degree of recognition of these populations as distinct communities in cultural, systemic and structural contexts. Mul茅 also engages in critical analysis of the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement and the development of queer liberation theory. Mul茅 is currently leading a national research project on poverty in 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, the first national study of its kind.

Mul茅 is available to comment on:

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, intersex and queer issues
• Queer liberation theory
• 2SLGBTQIA+ health and social service concerns, public and social policy regarding 2SLGBTQIA+ people and communities
• History and politics of the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement
• Diversity in society and 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights

For information on Pride celebrations at 91亚色, please see here.

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91亚色 is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for meaningful life and career paths. 91亚色's Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campus in Costa Rica offers students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact: Emina Gamulin, 91亚色 Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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Study finds detransition often reflects evolving identities, highlighting the need for flexible, trauma-informed care

As access to gender-affirming care has expanded in recent years, public and clinical understandings of gender transition and detransition have remained limited and highly politicized. Anecdotal reports of detransition have become a flashpoint in culture war debates and international policy battles, while the actual experiences of people who have stopped, shifted, or reversed an initial gender transition remain under-researched.

A groundbreaking new study led by 91亚色 Professor , , emphasizes the need for a nuanced, evidence-informed understanding of detransition experiences among 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Drawing on survey data from 957 participants in the U.S. and Canada, the research reveals that detransition is far from a homogenous experience.

鈥淭his particular topic is very contentious and debated along political lines. People with these experiences tend to feel marginalized and misrepresented by both sides,鈥� says MacKinnon, a social scientist at 91亚色鈥檚 School of Social Work. 鈥淥ur study aimed to build knowledge that was more empirically driven, to try to understand from people鈥檚 own knowledge how they experienced gender transition, and their ongoing care needs.鈥�

Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and co-authored by Naail Khan and Katherine Newman, 91亚色 PhD candidates in the Department of Psychology, the DARE (Detransition Analysis, Representation, and Exploration) study identifies four distinct pathways of detransition and offers a more nuanced framework for understanding why people decide to detransition. These findings may not be generalizable to the larger TGD population, especially those who do not detransition. Detransition is a minority experience within the TGD community, currently estimated at between one to 30 per cent.

鈥淚n Canada and the United States, there has been very little robust research into detransition in the last 30 years,鈥� says MacKinnon. 鈥淭his is one of the first large-scale, community efforts to study detransition and gender fluidity since gender-affirming health care was widely scaled up about 10 to 15 years ago.鈥�

Understanding the study

Data collection for the SSHRC Insight Grant-backed study began in December 2023. Over the following year, 957 individuals were surveyed and 42 interviewed. Participants ranged from 16 to 74 years old. The average age was 26. The mean age at which most began to identify as TGD was around 15. A large majority (78.8 per cent) were assigned female at birth (AFAB), and nearly three-quarters were based in the U.S.

Participants had all detransitioned or retransitioned after a social and/or medical gender transition. The time between initially realizing a TGD identity and starting to detransition ranged from several months to over a decade. While reasons for detransition varied, the study found that gender identity and expression can be fluid over time, particularly for 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Some described their transitions and detransitions not as mistakes, but as part of a longer developmental journey. Others felt let down by gender-affirming health care or accessed care that may have deviated from recommended standards of care.

Four distinct detransition pathways

Survey results offer new insights into socio-demographic profiles and characteristics of individuals who have detransitioned or retransitioned (resumed transitioning after a temporary detransition). Using self-reported reasons, MacKinnon and co-authors identified four distinct pathways using Latent Class Analysis (LCA).

Class A (33 per cent of participants): Predominantly young, AFAB (89.87 per cent) individuals, who began transition early and later reported high decisional regret, mental health challenges and dissatisfaction with care. Most (85.4 per cent) no longer identified as TGD at the time of the survey. Participants in this group had the highest average number of lifetime gender identities, reported high adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and strong decisional regret with transition. Over half of those who accessed gender-related surgery as minors were in this group; fewer than half reported receiving decision-making supports before they started to transition.

Class B (19.5 per cent): Participants whose gender identity evolved with little to no regret, and who expressed satisfaction with transition and care received. Most (62.3 per cent) still identified as TGD but had evolved in their gender identity/expression after their initial gender transition.

Class C (19 per cent): This group experienced a combination of internal struggles (neurodivergence, mental health, trauma and identity shifts) and external pressures (discrimination, romantic rejection, lack of support). Participants in this group reported high adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), moderate regret and mixed satisfaction with care. In this class, 29 per cent reported wanting to detransition but were feeling unable to take steps.

Class D (28.5 per cent): Detransition was involuntary, driven primarily by external pressures like discrimination, family rejection, difficulty with accessing gender-related treatments, and more. About 95 per cent reported a current TGD identity, and most (71 per cent) had retransitioned, suggesting this group had a temporary detransition. This group reported high treatment satisfaction and the lowest decisional regret, with a majority reporting access to decision-making supports prior to starting to transition. Best conceptualized as an 鈥渋nterrupted鈥� transition. Trans women were more often in this group.

Beyond regret: gender fluidity, social context and complexity

Survey findings show that detransition can occur with or without decisional regret. While roughly half of those who accessed gender-related medical treatments reported decisional regret or ambivalence, many expressed ongoing satisfaction. For some, detransition reflected changing identity; for others, it was a forced interruption due to external or systemic barriers. A significant number retransitioned, illustrating that treatment needs can evolve across time and context.

Recent longitudinal research found that 20 to 79 per cent of gender-diverse young people experience shifts in gender identity over time. These changes are not necessarily signs of regret or pathology but may reflect typical child and adolescent identity developmental processes. This underscores the importance of care models that are responsive to evolving identities and the dynamic ways young people can experience gender. 

More resources are required from health-care funders to improve high-quality research and ensure that gender care delivery follows recommended standards of care, particularly for gender-diverse children and youth. This would include training clinicians on the diversity of TGD experiences, including detransition and retransition, and updating guidelines like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care to reflect evolving research.

Gender-affirming care must be flexible, compassionate, trauma-informed and evidence-based. Providers must adopt non-stigmatizing, informed practices that reflect the reality that gender identity and treatment needs can evolve. By better understanding gender dysphoria, gender fluidity, and detransition, clinicians and health-care systems can offer safer, more comprehensive supports. Integrating a nuanced view of gender fluidity into care models will improve patient trust, reduce harm and ensure inclusivity across the full spectrum of 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences.

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Toronto, ON, June 7, 2023 鈥� Women who identify as bisexual were more than three times more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual women, by a group of researchers at 91亚色 and ICES published online today.

The research, which is the first to link population-based survey data with health records for over 123,000 individuals, also found that gay men and gay women/lesbians were twice as likely to attempt suicide, both fatal and non-fatal, which the team refers to as a suicide-related behaviour (SRB) event, compared to heterosexual individuals. The findings point to an urgent need for better mental health supports within the LGBTQ+ community.

鈥淲e wanted to better characterize the disparity in suicide-related behaviours across sexual orientations and gender,鈥� says lead author , a Faculty of Health assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Population Health Data Science at 91亚色 and adjunct scientist at ICES. 鈥淧rior research on suicide attempts has mostly relied on self-reported data from surveys, which means we don鈥檛 have information on people who are too sick to participate or have died by suicide.鈥�

Published in the , the study looked at Ontario participants from the Canadian Community Health Survey, which was linked to anonymous administrative health data such as emergency room visits or hospitalizations for non-fatal self-harm and fatal suicide events between 2002 and 2019.

The researchers, who include 91亚色 postdoctoral fellows Gabriel John Dusing and Chungah Kim, found:

• Overall prevalence of one or more SRB events was around two per cent in heterosexual individuals, five per cent in gay/lesbian individuals, and eight per cent in bisexual individuals.
• Sexual minority individuals were at higher risk of SRB events, ranging from 2.10 to 4.23 times more likely when compared to heterosexual people.
• After adjusting for age and gender, the risk of a SRB event was more than three times greater among bisexual individuals, and this risk was most pronounced for bisexual women.

鈥淭he higher risk for bisexual women could be attributed to greater discrimination that bisexual people face within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as higher rates of violence, trauma, and caregiving burden that bisexual women may experience in opposite-sex relationships,鈥� says Chum.

One limitation of the study is that data were not available for non-binary individuals and sexual orientations such as asexual and queer. Nevertheless, this was the first study to use a large representative sample linked with medical records, which improves the generalizability of the findings for other regions and populations.

鈥淭he study shows a clear need for better funding, policy and programming to address LGBTQ+ suicide risk,鈥� says Chum. 鈥淲e also need increased training for healthcare workers to address LGBTQ+ suicide risk. Further, we want to encourage hospitals and clinics to collect sexual orientation data as part of routine patient care.鈥�

Chum also notes the increasing creep of healthcare privatization and that publicly funded mental health supports need to be increased not just for LGBTQ+ people, but across the board.

The findings align with the authors鈥� published in March in PLOS One, which found that both sexual minority status and residing in under-resourced neighbourhoods with poor access to healthcare, were independent risk factors for suicide-related behaviours. Future research needs to explore interventions that improve the mental health of LGBTQ+ people while addressing social determinants of health, such as neighbourhood-level disparities and barriers to healthcare.

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While new technologies offer obvious benefits to humanity, concerns over who gets left behind as our world transforms need to be addressed, researchers warn

TORONTO, January 4, 2023 鈥� From basic internet to high-end neurotechnology and everything in between, reliable access to technology is out of reach for millions of Canadians and billions across the globe, and for some equity-seeking communities this will pose new challenges, say 91亚色 researchers, who have joined forces to tackle this pressing issue.

鈥淭echnology now influences the way we communicate with each other, and in many cases, we鈥檙e now interacting with artificial agents,鈥� says Distinguished Research in the Faculty of Health.

Crawford is the director of 91亚色鈥檚 project that blends human science, computer science, humanities and arts for transdisciplinary research and applications.

As a neuroscientist, he sees how neurotechnology is implemented in medical diagnostics and rehabilitation, and as a means for direct communication between the brain and prosthetics to replace lost functions like vision and movement. He also sees how various apps and online platforms can both connect and divide us.

鈥淭hese advances have many benefits for society, health, and the economy, however, they come with serious concerns,鈥� points out Crawford, who has partnered other 91亚色 researchers in the fields of neuroscience, technology, law, arts and social science to come up with solutions.

鈥淔or example, social media, while connecting people, is also driving them apart into bubble like 'echo chambers'. And now, with the advent of brain-machine interfaces, we face new ethical concerns that were the stuff of science fiction until only a few years ago.鈥�

Faculty of Health , Mi'kmaw scholar from the Qalipu First Nation and a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, shares the same view based on his research and personal experiences.

鈥淎 lack of access to internet for Indigenous Peoples in Canada exacerbates long-standing inequities in areas such as health, employment and education,鈥� says Hillier, 91亚色 Research Chair in Indigenous Health Policy & One Health. He highlights the fact that while the threats posed by technology are of concern to everyone, the most impacted are low-income and rural communities. 鈥淗ighspeed and reliable internet connection are not accessible to many Indigenous community members, both in rural and urban settings.鈥�

A lack of reliable internet creates many barriers, including the inability to work from home as employees, conduct transactions within and outside of their communities as business owners, successfully complete post-secondary education, and access health-care services, whether primary care or mental health supports, particularly for those in remote locations, according to Hillier.

鈥淗ow can you be examined or share your health concerns or receive counselling when you live in a household with no privacy and your internet connectivity is unstable? You will be forced into public spaces to do these calls.鈥�

Hillier also points out there are concerns about how Indigenous sovereignty and data are presented that need to be answered. 鈥淲hile information flows more reliably online, what does it mean for Indigenous Peoples' traditional knowledges, how are these knowledges shared and who gets access to them and subsequently use it? How do we effectively implement principals of data ownership and control when communities do not have the recourses or expertise to oversee this?鈥�

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a lack of ethical designing, says Hillier. 鈥淎I designs are created with a western bias, so they are limited in their imagination, frameworks, and effective use of language with diverse Indigenous knowledge systems and our Peoples."

Theatre & Performance Studies , whose research focus is on digital justice for diverse groups, believes the need of the hour is to collectively conduct research to determine how social injustices are embedded in digital technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), and find impactful solutions.

鈥淩esearching barriers to access for those in historically marginalized groups around the world 鈥� from the cost of using certain equipment, to having to don normative avatars, to experiencing surveillance on various platforms 鈥� will ensure that virtual communities can assemble, self-organize, and connect, allowing them to imagine alternative past, presents, and futures,鈥� she says.

鈥淗ow these technologies 鈥� which enable new kinds of interactivity and storytelling 鈥� shape collective thinking, affective experiences, and community care, will be another aspect to explore to better understand social issues produced by interactions between humans and computers. This is especially important in the context of art and educational projects that use immersive features of VR to teach empathy,鈥� says Levin, who is the associate dean of research at the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design at 91亚色.

Levin adds that it is crucial to consider the ethical and political implications of using immersive technologies to give spectators an experience of someone culturally different from themselves (for example, experiencing a migrant鈥檚 or a homeless person鈥檚 perspective), as this can often reinforce Eurocentric, colonial, and capitalist ideologies.

Another challenge such marginalized communities face as technology evolves, shifting toward integration of AI, is access to the legal justice system.

鈥淲ith the onslaught of emerging technologies, the law is ever playing catch up and many in society get left behind,鈥� says Intellectual Property Law , who has been researching IP innovation for more than a decade. To tackle this issue, 鈥渋nformation and services should remain available and accessible to those who need it most to empower them from the ground up, through education and access to information and resources that should be public knowledge.鈥�

Removing monopolies on public knowledge will help foster more innovation and entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, allowing local economies to prosper and growing made-in-Canada companies to better manage and leverage their resources, says D鈥橝gostino. 鈥淎t the same time, special care should be taken to ensure that remote communities and those without stable or consistent internet access are still able to access these resources. This can work through strategic and carefully cultivated partnerships which build trust between knowledge-holders and community members.鈥�

For her part, in 2010 D鈥橝gostino founded the at 91亚色鈥檚 Osgoode Hall Law School, which helps under-resourced entrepreneurs and start-up companies to commercialize their intellectual property. 鈥淢y current IP Innovation Clinic research is targeting barriers disproportionately affecting women and Indigenous communities, two of the most underrepresented among patent holders in Canada,鈥� she says.

鈥淭hrough our new AI-powered chatbot at the Clinic, we are trying to engage with organizations supporting these communities to identify barriers, research answers to their most pressing questions, and refine this AI tool to better respond to these concerns,鈥� says D鈥橝gostino. 鈥淏ottomline, AI will disrupt all aspects of society, so learning how to embrace and interact with it is the best way to keep up with this shift.鈥�

The common element of all these examples is that new technologies, while providing advances in some areas, also create barriers of threats for some communities, the researchers say, emphasizing that a more proactive approach to understanding the potential consequences of novel technological perturbations.

Having this collective goal of narrowing the digital divide that is intensified by the shift in the interaction between human science and machine science, these researchers and others from research centres at the University have come together to plan programs with real-world impact, while making a positive change in the global arena.

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