Bold Ideas Colloquium Series: Queering Covid: 2SLGBTQIA+ Experiences of Covid Lockdowns in Winnipeg and Calgary

Via Zoom:

https://umanitoba.zoom.us/j/63229644604?pwd=VNn7WoV9W2gBSRXJMFEIojYbnKqxjr.1

Meeting ID: 632 2964 4604

Passcode: 739535

Queering Covid: 2SLGBTQIA+ Experiences of Covid Lockdowns

in Winnipeg and Calgary

Dr. Deborah McPhail, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Community and Global Health

The Covid-19 pandemic in Canada represented a curious moment in which time was both thrust back into a history of uncontrolled emerging contagions and yet propelled forward into a dystopia of a terrifying new illness of apocalyptic proportions. Scholars are only beginning to explore how these strange “Covid times” were experienced, particularly in marginalized communities. As such, this presentation will outline 2SLGBTQIA+ communities’ experiences of Covid lockdowns in two Canadian cities, using emerging queer qualitative methodologies and 50 interviews with community members in Winnipeg and Calgary. Through the words of our participants, I demonstrate how public health efforts – particularly with their focus on the household unit during lockdown periods – elided the chosen family dynamics and particular realities of queer people, thus feasibly contributing to higher rates of Covid-related mental health issues than those of the public at large. Drawing on 2SLGBTQIA+ histories of resourcefulness and (political) acumen with HIV/AIDS, I argue that research participants provide insight into how best to ensure policy equity in future pandemic planning, whilst retaining the crucial ability of public health to be both effective and nimble in times of crisis.