Bruce Gillespie researching Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ journalists
Bruce Gillespie (external link) has been working in the journalism industry as a gay man since he was 18 years old. He’s won countless awards and been on the masthead for publications such as J-Source.ca (external link) , As he continued to work in the field, he became interested in the working conditions and lives of other 2SLGBTQ+ journalists after speaking to his colleagues.
Now, he has started what may be the first qualitative research (external link) study on Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ journalists.
Gillespie, a former J-School lecturer and currently an associate professor at Wilfred Laurier University, will focus on the working experiences and obstacles journalists in the 2SLGBTQ+ community endure working in the industry.
“I've been really impressed with the progress made in researching diversity and Canadian journalism broadly over the last few years,” said Gillespie.
“But every time those reports came out, I would sort of flip through and look for stuff about queer trans people. It wasn't there to a great extent, or at least the extent that I was looking for it”
Frustrated by the lack of research, Gillespie sought to create a thorough study on the issues he believed remained prominent.
“I thought it would be the research I want to see in the world and sort of tackling it myself.”
Gillespie began the preliminary phase of the study, which involved writing survey questions and going through the ethics process last spring. He then began recruiting participants willing to share their stories in June, when Pride is celebrated. Fifty-three journalists and people working in media participated in Gillespie’s study, many of whom shared their struggles coming out. Gillespie wanted the study to provide a safe space for participants to share their stories and the nuances of their lives.
“My goal was really to talk to people about their lived experiences on the job and the really fascinating, alarming and heartbreaking stories.”
Gillespie says that society has changed its perception of the 2SLGBTQ+ community during his journalistic career. However, he still believes that queer journalists face barriers when pursuing a career. “I think there's still lots of newsrooms where LGBTQ-plus journalists experience, homophobia and it's maybe not completely obvious all the time,” says Gillespie.
A study conducted in 2022 (external link) by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (external link) and Pride at Work Canada (external link) found that a majority of people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community experienced unwanted comments about their identity, deadnaming and verbal harassment. Trans journalists are at greater risk of online harassment and assaults when reporting, says Gillespie.
“We really need to question and work on how accepting Canadian journalism as a field is for trans journalists in particular.”
As he continues to evaluate the data and document his findings, Gillespie hopes his work leads to work practices and programs dedicated to uplifting 2SLGBTQ+ journalists.
“I think being able to talk to a wide range of people across the country and actually publish and document those experiences is really important to say here. I'm also hoping it's sort of a foundation from which to do more research in the future within the industry.”