Tristen Wybou, BCGEU executive vice-president and chair of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Committee

For the last twenty years, May 17 has marked International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. When reviewing our community's history, it is difficult to hold the decades of resilience and resistance that have resulted in significant wins for love and pride alongside a global reality of ongoing struggle. Countries once seen as safe, such as our neighbours in the US, are now stacking up travel advisories. We are seeing the rise of anti-2SLGBTQI+ laws and sentiment both internationally ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]} as well as here in Canada. One thing is clear: pride is under attack.

Today and everyday, we stand alongside all workers whose right to liberty is equal, and we unite in our fight against a common enemy that seeks to divide us. The 2SLGBTQI+ community shares similar needs to all Canadians: safe, affordable housing; meaningful work at jobs where we're respected; and quality, universal healthcare.

At the same time, we disproportionately face the same barriers that other equity-seeking groups and Indigenous people face in trying to meet these needs, manifesting as disproportionate rates of homelessness, high rates of job precarity and low job quality, and systemic discrimination in the healthcare system.

Our community's love and solidarity remains powerful, and that's a cause for celebration. It is through our resilience as a collective that we have survived and thrived, a strength shared widely by unionists and one which we must not lose sight of now. Even in the face of escalating tensions, and of misinformation campaigns distracting us from the real troubles at hand, love is a verb that will lead us to action and unite us.

UWU/MoveUP