Q&A: David J. Brennan and Eric J. Van Giessen on the importance and value of engaging community to understand 2SLGBTQQIA+ sexual and reproductive health

Posted on May 29, 2025
Categories: David Brennan, Faculty, Q & A, Research

Eric J. Van Giessen and David J. Brennan pose for a photo outside FIFSW's building on U of T's St. George Camus.

This spring, The Investigaytors will launch a new survey on 2SLGBTQQIA+ sexual and reproductive health, with outreach taking place across Canada at Pride and other Queer-focused events throughout the summer. Professor David J. Brennan, Founder and Director of CRUISElab, and Eric J. Van Giessen, Program Coordinator for the Toronto branch of The Investigaytors program, tell us about the project, the benefits of community-based research and the importance of understanding of “the factors that facilitate and nourish Queer joy.”

What is The Investigaytors program?

David: The investigators program was developed in Vancouver through the Community-Based Research Center (CBRC) to create opportunities for people who identify as Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, or being part of the Queerspectrum (2SLGBTQQIA+) to learn about and get involved in health research and connect with one another. Anybody from the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community who is interested in research is invited to be involved. Some of our participants are students; some work in agencies, but you don’t need to be a researcher or know anything about research to get involved.

What is the benefit of engaging community in research?

Eric: Part of the rationale for the creation of this program was that research on HIV and AIDS and LGBTQ health was not necessarily being done by Queer and Trans people. As a result, a lot of the research was very stigmatizing and missing knowledge from people within those communities, which led to discrepancies between people’s lived experience and what was showing up in the scholarship. The Investigaytors program was and is an attempt to help develop the next generation of health researchers, drawing from people who have a more holistic understanding of the subjects we are seeking to learn about and applying a strengths-based or sex-positive approach.

David: Participants get to look behind the curtain to see how research works. But, as Eric said, they also contribute to making the research stronger. People who work for an organization but don’t know a lot about research can have incredible insight into what we don’t see as researchers. They can point out our blind spots. Another benefit of community-based research is that it builds community. The people involved are developing new, supportive social connections.

Could you tell us about the survey you are conducting this summer?

David: The Our Bodies, Our Health survey is focused on an area that hasn’t been researched a great deal, which is sexual and reproductive Health for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. There are specific topics about or related to sexuality and reproductive health that are unique to this community. This particular study was designed to get a national sample, and we are one of several sites across the country collecting data.

What stage of the project are you now in?

Eric: We did recruitment for our Investigaytors program in March and have been engaging participants in a training program to support their ability to do the survey data collection this summer. Since the end of March, we’ve covered a variety of different topics, including research ethics, survey design, community-based research, and Indigenous way of knowing and approaching research. The Our Bodies, Our Health survey will launch in May and run at Pride events across the country throughout the summer.

What will that launch look like?

David: The survey will be available for people to do on their own online, but we will also collect data in person at Pride and other Queer-associated events. We’ll have a tent at Toronto Pride where people can take the survey, and members of the Investigaytors team will be out on Church Street to raise awareness. Participants will complete the survey on tablets, and Investigaytors will be available to help set people up on each device and answer any questions they may have about the project.

What will happen after the data is collected?

David: The CBRC has a fairly open access policy and will make the data set available to the various Investigaytors programs across the country. We’ll consult our team of community researchers about what they’d like to explore within the data set and then conduct data analysis. The data will inform academic publications, information sheets, and social media outreach to share the knowledge gleaned with the broader public. The greater purpose of the project is to increase access to culturally relevant sexual and reproductive care, so we will work with healthcare organizations to ensure the information is shared with healthcare professionals as well.

Eric: We’ll also go back to our Investigaytors participants to ask: who needs to hear this, and how do we make sure that it gets into their hands? And we’ll brainstorm together what knowledge mobilization could look like. In the past, we’ve held events with short presentations. One year the participants created a mural, and there have been some groups that have done zine publications. Healthcare professionals, community organizations and members of the public can all learn from the results and gain a deeper understanding of the concerns that are relevant to our community. This is another important aspect of involving community members in the research — they become very invested in sharing it to improve the lives of the people in their communities.

What additional impacts do you hope this research will have?

David: Some people will be shocked, surprised, and pleased that researchers are asking them questions for a study that represents a piece of their identity or lived experience that is rarely examined among the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. That alone will bring great interest.

Eric: We had enormous interest in the program this year and part of the reasons for that is because we are making sure that participation in the Investigaytors program is accessible and free — we cover transit for folks coming to and from the program and we serve food throughout the program so people can come and get a good meal while they’re here. It becomes a sort of “third space,” where it’s not a bar, or an educational space with tuition. People can come and just talk about their interest in learning about this community and learning about research. It’s an opportunity for people to build relationships with other queer people without alcohol or money being exchanged.

How does the current political climate impact this work?

David: At a time when people are being actively discouraged from being true to their identity or from being honest about their lived experience due to homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of hate, this kind of work helps to battle against that, because it highlights what’s needed by the community. I think it’s critical, especially when we’re seeing rights for 2SLGBTQIA+ people backslide.

Eric: The other piece is that the survey doesn’t just focus on things like rates of STBBI transmission. It also examines things like factors that facilitate and nourish Queer joy, social connection, and community building. There’s a whole section on Queer parenting and building families and the supports that do or don’t exist around that. Testifying to or bringing evidence of the strengths of our community is a major contribution that I believe these surveys make.