Good morning to all parliamentarians and partners. Thank you for having us.

My name is Laurent Breault, and I am the executive director of Fondation Émergence. I am joined by my colleague Olivia Baker, trainer and content specialist, also representing Fondation Émergence.

Fondation Émergence is a non-profit organization dedicated to informing, educating and raising awareness among the general public about LGBTQ+ realities. Our expertise lies in training services, professional coaching and the production of awareness-raising tools. In addition to working to make workplaces, seniors and caregivers more inclusive, we also take action against conversion therapy and cyberbullying.

We also organize an annual awareness campaign on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which the foundation launched for the first time worldwide in 2003. This year's theme was “The Rise of Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate”, based on the trends we have observed. These include statistics on the increase in hate crimes in Canada, the growing presence of online hate and misinformation, the significant rise in hate messages received by our corporate partners when they publish anything related to sexual and gender diversity, anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations and acts of vandalism, as well as the attitude and comments of certain people who express opinions based on misinformation during our training sessions, such as the infamous litter box hoax, or people who demonstrate a certain hostility towards the subject.

We would like to focus our comments on two points related to today's topic.

Our first point is illustrated in our campaign slogan: “A rollback of LGBTQ+ rights‍ is a setback for all of society.” This rise in hate and the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights must not to be considered in isolation, but rather as a symptom of a broader and more worrying trend for society as a whole.

It's often said that LGBTQ+ communities represent only a minority of the population, and that is true. We are generally talking about a little more than 10% of the population. However, anti-LGBTQ+ violence can also affect other segments of the population, such as people who are perceived as LGBTQ+, like a young boy who's considered effeminate and bullied for it at school, a cisgender woman who's considered too masculine and becomes a victim of transphobia, or the families and friends of LGBTQ+ people, including the children of same-sex parents.

It's important to note that, according to a Leger survey conducted in 2024, 45% of people in Canada have LGBTQ+ relatives. Then we have all the other marginalized communities, since LGTBQ-phobias open the door to other types of violence and can set dangerous precedents.

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