Ensuring equity for LGBTQ Canadians on the road

Within the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics, there have been obvious advances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people and their allies. LGBTQ Olympians from several countries, including Canadian gold medal-winner Eric Radford, competed openly. Canada House served as Pride House, a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ athletes. Out U.S. gay athletes were blunt about their view that Mike Pence was an inappropriate representative for their country at the games.

But only four years prior, the Sochi Olympics of 2014 were preceded by the introduction of a new law in Russia, the host country, that stepped up discrimination against gay people.

LGBTQ athletes and their allies were confronted with a problem. On the one hand, the games are governed by a charter that deems any form of discrimination incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement. On the other hand, the Sochi games would be held in a country where LGBTQ people were not welcome.

The assurance of non-discrimination is part of an equity discourse. The idea that there is an inherent goodness to international engagement relates to a second discourse: Internationalization.

For me, as a lesbian in an academic environment, those two discourses led to a question about my daily life. For the past four years, I have investigated how equity and internationalization come together for LGBTQ people. I turned to my own work setting to explore how LGBTQ people navigate the expectations and complications that come with internationalization in the post-secondary sector.

The business of equity

In Canada, equity regularly appears as a concept in company policies and plans. Typically, discrimination or harassment based on race, gender or sexual orientation is prohibited. These standards are in line with provincial and federal human rights codes and expected in most Canadian organizations.

At the University of Calgary, where I work, there is an Employment Equity Policy and a related strategy, among other statements and offices meant to support LGBTQ people.

That expectation is not shared globally, though. There are many countries where being gay is a punishable offence, sometimes even a capital offence.

Certainly, discrimination against LGBTQ people has not vanished in Western societies and post-secondary institutions. In fact, the few studies that exist on LGBTQ academics show that despite institutional efforts and advances, LGBTQ people continue to experience barriers on campus.

Like other organizations, post-secondary institutions are extending their reach globally. This happens through recruitment of students outside Canada, study exchanges, study abroad programs, field research and satellite campuses. On an even more basic level, there are international conferences to attend and international publications to include in courses.

While internationalization is portrayed as crucial in helping students develop intercultural skills, some are concerned that it is about business more than education. What happens when business priorities clash with equity priorities? Equity is too easily sacrificed.