It is common knowledge that LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) communities experience disparate rates of mental health concerns, including greater levels of self-reported depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior (Bränström, Hatzenbuehler, & Pachankis, 2016). As an example, gay and bisexual men are four times as likely and lesbian and bisexual women are 2 times as likely, to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual counterparts (King et al., 2008). Between 25-43% of transgender persons have a lifetime history of suicide attempts, compared to 5% of the general US population (Nock & Kessler, 2006). Such poor mental health outcomes may be due, in part, to a lack of acceptance by society in the form of discrimination and unequal rights, and to rejection by family, friends and the self, including internalized homophobia, concealment and shame (Skerrett, Kõlves, & De Leo, 2016). LGBTQ persons are also more likely to have experienced trauma, including physical and sexual abuse, as well as interpersonal violence by intimate partners, family and strangers (LangenderferMagruder, Whitfeld, Walls, Kattari, & Ramos, 2016). LGBTQ communities, therefore, constitute a vulnerable and marginalized population, who are already at risk for rejection and abuse with consequent deleterious effects on physical and mental health, including risk for suicide.

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As with every U.S. election cycle, the early 2016 election season was a roller-coaster experience, with positive and negative campaign messages emerging from both parties, and with high hopes and dashed hopes for both Democratic and Republican candidates. However, as Donald J. Trump emerged as the Republican candidate to challenge Democrat Hillary R. Clinton for the Office of President, the United States appeared to be equally bemused, horrified and confident in a Democratic victory — after all, how could someone so unorthodox as Donald Trump become the next president? His divisive campaign had become predictive, for many voters, of a clear victory for Clinton. However, those within vulnerable groups, including women, immigrants and the LGBTQ communities, along with many allies, noted the growing normalization of his micro- and macro-aggressions by the mainstream media, and the societal legitimization of his campaign.

Ce mémoire de maitrise explore l’hétérogénéité et la diversité dans le Village de Montréal. Il s’intéresse à ce quartier au-delà de ce que sa vitrine commerciale laisse voir. Ses lieux de sortie et de rencontres, tout comme ses autres commerces et ses tissus résidentiel et communautaires, ne seraient pas des blocs homogènes, mais des mosaïques qui sont investies par une multitude de personnes, de groupes et de communautés. Ceux-ci, dépendamment de leurs trajectoires et de leurs parcours, ont des perceptions et des vécus forts différents les uns des autres des mêmes lieux, d’une part, et du Village dans son ensemble, d’autre part. Sur la base d’une analyse documentaire et de six (6) entrevues menées auprès de personnes qui fréquentent les milieux communautaires et activistes LGBTQ, ce mémoire révèle les multiples stratégies et manières d’occuper l’espace urbain dans le Village, et les réseaux et les lieux où s’observe cette diversité. / This Master’s thesis explores the diversity and heterogeneity of space within Montréal’s (gay) Village. It seeks to analyze this neighborhood beyond what its ‘commercial showcase’ might reveal at first sight. The Village’s bars and clubs, as well as its shops, community organizations and sociodemographic composition, are not thought as homogeneous, but rather mosaics of multiple people, groups and communities across space. These latter, depending on their trajectories and routes, often have different perceptions and experiences of a single place or of the Village as a whole. Based on a document analysis and interviews with six (6) LGBTQ activists, this thesis reveals multiple strategies and ways to engage space, as well as the networks and spaces within Montreal’s Village where this diversity can be experienced.