Expanding research on LGBTIQ inclusion throughout Asia

Professor Peter A. Newman, working with a multidisciplinary team of researchers, is developing evidence to measure and accelerate progress on LGBTIQ inclusion and human rights in Asia — and his research is growing.

The MFARR-Asia SSHRC Partnership project that Newman leads recently expanded beyond its original four-jurisdictions to three new countries, including Singapore.

Supported by the SDGs@UofT Institutional Strategic Initiative, first year Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work PhD student David Puvan will spend the summer conducting key informant interviews and contributing to a scoping review of the literature on LGBTIQ inclusion in Singapore. He will also collaborate with Newman’s team in Thailand in conducting a qualitative analysis and write-up of findings from focus groups with academic and community experts on priority issues and challenges for LGBTIQ rights in the region.

“As someone from Southeast Asia, this opportunity holds deep personal and professional significance,” says Puvan. “In today’s increasingly complex and polarized sociopolitical climate, especially around issues of identity and belonging, it feels more urgent than ever to engage in meaningful, community-rooted research. This project allows me to contribute to communities I care deeply about, while bridging local knowledge and global scholarship to promote equity, inclusion, and social change.”

(Learn more about how MFARR-Asia’s research on LGBTIQ inclusion is advancing human rights here.)

Addressing discrimination against LGBTIQ individuals is a human rights imperative, says Newman. He points to a leading global economist, M.V. Lee Badgett, who has estimated that the costs of stigma and discrimination against LGBTIQ people — in education, economic and healthcare sectors — is akin to a 1% permanent structural recession.* In effect, the knowledge, skills, and productivity of an entire group of people is constrained, excluding them from contributing to society at their full potential.

Puvan’s research focuses on participatory methods with racialized LGBTQIA+ communities, and the transformative potential of arts-based inquiry. His work is grounded in anti-oppressive practice and critical pedagogy, with a commitment to social justice and community impact.

In addition to his role as Professor at FIFSW, Dr. Peter A. Newman is an affiliate of the U of T Joint Centre for Bioethics.  He is a co-founder of VOICES-Thailand Foundation (Chiang Mai), and a standing member of U of T’s Health Sciences Research Ethics Board. Newman has been awarded over 11 million dollars in continuous, external PI-research funding. With over 190 refereed publications and over 15,000 citations, he has been recognized as among the most highly cited social work scholars in North America. While his current research program is focused on LGBTIQ inclusion and human rights in Asia, he also leads community-based research on HIV and sexual health with sexual and gender minorities and racialized populations in North America, Asia, and Africa.

*References: