Canada’s intelligence agency is warning that serious violence against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is likely to increase in the coming year.

CSIS says that the anti-gender movement poses a violent threat to the queer community, citing an attack on a gender-studies class at the University of Waterloo as an incident that may inspire other violent actors.

Activist and organizer of the No Space for Hate movement, Sarah Worthman, says this increase in violence is something the community has been very aware of over the past three or four years.

She cites a report by Egale which shows that since 2020, there has been a 64 per cent rise in hate crimes targeting sexual orientation. She says that number is undoubtably higher for trans people.

Worthman says legislation like Alberta’s proposed gender identity and sexual orientation policy has a direct correlation to violence against the queer community.

She says these policies vindicate the hate these violent actors are feeling. Since a protest against inclusive education in September, Worthman says trans and queer children and teens are less likely to come out and are facing targeted harassment.