“It was Very Clear That We Were Not the Norm”: A Community-Based Qualitative Study of Experiences in the Legal System and Access to Justice Among Sexual Minority People in Western Canada

Despite rights-based advancements within Canada, sexual and gender minority people continue to face barriers when accessing and navigating the legal system across a wide range of legal issues. This study presents findings from 21 qualitative interviews conducted from 2020 to 2021 with sexual minority people in Western Canada exploring their experiences with the legal system. Findings presented in this paper focus on experiences of participants interacting with the legal system, the barriers to resolving their legal problems, and the resulting impacts experienced by sexual minority people. While participants experienced a range of legal problems, these challenges were rooted in systemic forms of oppression including: settler colonialism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and cis/heteronormativity. Barriers to resolving these legal issues included lack of clarity about legal processes, financial barriers, slow timelines for legal resolution, and challenges with proving discrimination and harassment. Many participants' legal problems arose specifically from their treatment within the legal system. This demonstrates the limitations of legal protections and the importance of addressing and dismantling systems of oppression, including the treatment of sexual and gender minority people by both legal actors and institutions, to improve access to justice for these communities.