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Intersections

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What are some groups of people that face discrimination?

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Social Identities

Women

People of colour

Poor people

Elderly people

Trans people

Disabled people

Indigenous people

Queer people

Jewish and Muslim people

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What are the names of these kinds of discrimination?

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Systems of Oppression

Sexism

Racism

Classism

Ageism

Cissexism

Ableism

Colonialism

Heterosexism

Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia

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Intersectionality

The idea that one person can face more than one kind of oppression.

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How might intersectionality apply to trans people?

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Kimberlé Crenshaw

Kimberlé Crenshaw is a law professor who invented the word intersectionality.

She invented it to talk about the experiences of Black woman who face racism and sexism at the same time.

Other writers use the word to talk about any person who faces more than one kind of discrimination.

Image from http://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/kimberle-crenshaw

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Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit a word that Indigenous people can use to describe themselves.Two-spirit identity can be a sexual orientation, a gender identity, a cultural identity or a mix of these.

The word Two-spirit was invented in 1990 by activist Albert McLeod at the third annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Because two-spirit is a word from Indigenous cultures it is not the same as words like gay or trans. But, two-spirit people might also use words like trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, asexual, genderqueer, genderfluid, agender, or many others to talk about themselves.

See Appendix A for a document from 2-Spirited People of the First Nations on the history of two-spirit people on Turtle Island.

Visit http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/two-spirit/ for a detailed entry and suggested reading.

Indigenous: a word used to describe the original inhabitants of a land. In Canada, the word is used to collectively describe First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. Many other words have been used to describe these peoples as a group including Aboriginal and Indian. Some people find the term “Indian” offensive as a word to describe these peoples, but it remains in much government legislation such as the Indian Act. While Indigenous is considered by some the best collective noun for these peoples, many Indigenous peoples prefer that the name of their nation be used when describing them. While First Nations peoples may have similar experiences due to their treatment at the hands of the Government of Canada, the term encompasses hundreds of different nations with very different economic and social conditions, cultures, and histories.

To learn more about First Nations communities near you visit one of the following sites:

http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/political__trashed/provincial/

https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-first-nations-maps

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Albert McLeod

Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Metis community of Norway House in northern Manitoba.

He suggested the term two-spirit as an English translation of a concept common to many First Nations of people with gender roles separate from those of men and women.

He continues to work as an activist, consultant, and educator including speaking to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about the experiences of two-spirited people in residential schools.

Image from http://www.albertmcleod.com/about.html