A new survey looking at the 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion Action Plan is being held until Oct. 13 in the Yukon.
The Yukon Bureau of Statistics organized the survey on behalf of the Women and Gender Equity Directorate. The survey aims to gauge the progress of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion Action Plan.
Members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies in the territory are encouraged to participate in the survey. Responses will remain anonymous, according to a Sept. 13 statement.
Following a comprehensive engagement and consultation that took place between 2018 and 2019, the government released the Inclusion Action Plan in 2021 to ensure its services and programs are inclusive of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
One of the plan’s key commitments is to conduct a survey with 2SLGBTQIA+ Yukoners and allies every two years.
The results from the survey will help track government progress on the plan, see if the community’s priorities have shifted and keep the government moving in the right direction, it’s noted in the statement.
“After the survey closes, we will use input from the survey to draft a public What We Heard report and share the report with the community,” the statement read.
Jeanie McLean, the minister responsible for the Women and Gender Equity Directorate, said throughout this initiative, the government strives to follow the “nothing about us, without us” approach.
“The launch of this survey — created in partnership with Queer Yukon and other stakeholders — was guided by that approach and stands as a commitment to be transparent and accountable to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community on the implementation of the Inclusion Action Plan,” McLean said.
Queer Yukon executive director Mona Luxion said many of the positive changes for 2SLGBTQIA+ Yukoners in the past few years, including support for gender-affirming care and the opening of Queer Yukon’s community spaces across the territory, have been driven by the findings of the 2018-2019 consultation.
The survey, Luxion said, has the “potential to chart the way for the next five-plus years, and we hope that a broad range of community members will contribute their perspectives and experiences over the next few weeks.”
In 2023, the government updated the acronym LGBTQ2S+ to 2SLGBTQIA+. The change puts Two-Spirit and Indigenous identities at the centre of the acronym. However, the acronym LGBTQ2S+ continues to be used when referring to the 2021 LGBTQ2S+ Inclusion Action Plan.
The survey can be accessed on yukon.ca and takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete.
Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com