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Sexual identity or orientation is the direction of one's sexual interest or attraction. It is a personal characteristic that forms part of who you are. It covers the range of human sexuality from lesbian and gay, to bisexual and straight. Sexual orientation is not be confused with gender.

Rationale for this question:

• Supportive adults and 2SLGBT2SQ+ affirming services can make a positive difference in the lives and longer-term outcomes of 2SLGBT2S+ children and youth.
• 2SLGBTQ+ youth face multiple barriers to quality care and service based on discrimination and unique needs.
• A number of 2SLGBTQ+ youth of colour report experiencing racism at the hands of social service providers as well as within the 2SLGBTQ+ community. A number of youth shared that some service providers and immigration authorities had a hard time ‘believing’ that they were gay.

Important Considerations:

• Discriminatory behaviour such as refusal of treatment by health care staff, verbal abuse, and disrespectful behaviour affecting access to appropriate care and compromising health care experiences is well documented in research. As such, many 2SLGTBQ+ youth often do not disclose their sexual identity.
• Past pilots indicate that some clients may respond with an inappropriate comment such as “I’m the normal one”. It is important for staff to practice responding to comments like this with ‘they are all normal, which one applies to you? Perhaps you meant ‘heterosexual?”.

Responding to youth asking why they are being asked this question:

• We can look at this data to ensure that all youth are getting the best care possible.
• We don’t want to assume youth’s sexual identity when we provide youth with care and services

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