LGBTQ Asylum Seekers Make Policy Recommendations

A lot of people think policy is for bureaucrats and academics, or that it’s something that only governments do. But government get their policy ideas from constituents (or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be…).

As an artist and activist, I have lobbied government on many issues, from artists’ basic income to women’s right to choose. While we feminists might not have labeled our demand for free-standing abortion clinics a policy recommendation, that is, in fact what it was. And, in a limited way, (limited because I now think our demands were not inclusive or nuanced enough), we won. Abortion in Canada is legal , with no government restriction,  and is partly funded by the Canada Health Act. 

These days, I ask my graduate students to include policy recommendations in their theses. This does two things: it makes them think about the real world implications of their research, and secondly, their recommendations, built on 2-10 years of scholarly and experiential immersion on their topic, are actually quite good. Some of Meera Govindasamy’s recommendations for social justice podcasting at the conclusion of her 2019 Masters thesis, “Public Legal Education for Newcomers in Ontario”, include 1) Organize in person; 2) Share skills; 3) Pay attention to affect (embodied feeling): “Considering the affective expressions of participants is a means of assessing their comfort levels as the project transforms during the creative process”. (Govindasamy 67). That is useful information for thise doing creative work with vulnerable communities!

Policy recommendations don’t have to be directed only at government.

You might wish to suggest that your local library have a policy of being more welcoming to undocumented migrants. You might propose a book display on the topic, or some online info reminding people that a library card is for everyone, no questions asked (ok well maybe just your address). When undocumented friends of mine finally acquired library cards, it was a very proud day. But it took a year of lobbying.

Making art can loosen things up and get ideas flowing.Below are policy recommendations created by LGBTQ+ refugee claimants during a photography workshop. While these ideas have not yet made it to a government policy table, they were useful data for the folks that work with them at MCC Church, and they helped to formulate priorities for this project’s successive media workshops.