Irina Zlobina hopes to have her abstract expressionism art on display in a Canadian gallery while her partner Olga Kochetkova aspires to get a job in social services – the kind of careers they had back in Russia.
The couple moved to Toronto from St. Petersburg in 2018, after it became clear that their lives and livelihoods were not safe there because of their sexual orientation and their work as LGBT+ activists.
In St. Petersburg, at protest against policies that would have given the government the right to take children away from LGBT+ families, the pair was arrested. They challenged the arrest and later proved that it was unlawful, but they believe their names were still put on a blacklist.
For example, Kochetkova was abruptly let go from her job as head of a charity that helped single mothers and their children. Job offers and bank loans would suddenly be denied, without a clear explanation.
Photo: Photo: Irina Zlobina with her partner Olga Kochetkova
The pair also began receiving death threats, which pushed them to uproot their lives and move to Canada for good.
Zlobina says they are “endlessly happy” to be in Toronto and have the safety and freedom to be themselves.
“This is a feeling that you cannot describe with words,” she said. “That we will not be killed. That we are actually free.”
Zlobina and Kochetkova are just two of the more than 1,500 LGBT+ newcomers and refugees helped annually by The 519 – a Toronto-based registered charity, community centre and service provider dedicated to serving LGBT+ communities – to resettle in Canada. Its New to Canada program, helps LGBT+ individuals who are new to Canada with everything from finding a place to live to employment counselling and mentorship.
While newcomers face common difficulties when resettling in a new country, LGBT+ individuals may face additional hurdles, such as navigating the refugee claim process and potentially discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, said Sebastian Commock, The 519’s Coordinator, Legal Initiatives and Settlement Support/Outreach.
For example, a trans individual of colour who is coming to Canada as a refugee will have more complex needs and challenges, he said. “You can see the multiple layers of challenges that this individual would have,” said Commock. “This will also possibly impact their ability to get housing, their ability to get employment, and more And sometimes, they’re coming from spaces where discussing their sexual orientation and gender identity is such a taboo, so there may be some internalized homophobia, biphobia or transphobia, and internalized shame associated with that. And as a result, that affects how this individual interacts with and navigates the system.”
The 519 provides several essential supports, such as frozen meals for pick up, and helps them to familiarize themselves with other individuals who are in a similar situation. Their aim is to provide anything that can help make starting over in a new place easier, he added.
“Most people are showing up to our centre because they’re running from something or running towards something,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have to know the details of what you’re running from or what you’re running towards, but if we can help to provide resources that make your run a little easier that would be great.”
Support globally for LGBT+ refugees recently got a boost. In December, the Tent Partnership for Refugees – a network of major companies globally committed to integrating refugees – announced that 23 organizations, including Scotiabank, have committed to provide mentorship opportunities for about 1,250 LGBT+ refugees over the next three years. Of those refugees, approximately 450 will be mentored in Canada.
Scotiabank partnered with The 519 to carry out its mentorship activities and pledged $500,000 to support the initiative.
“We are proud to support The 519, one of Canada’s most prominent LGBT+ community centres and service providers, to drive mentorship in communities across the country and help LGBT+ refugees establish meaningful careers,” says Meigan Terry, Chief Communications and Social Impact Officer, Scotiabank. “Through ScotiaRISE, the Bank’s 10-year $500 million initiative to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged groups, we’re committed to providing much-needed funding for essential LGBT+ community programs across our footprint.”
The 519 is working to pair mentees in communities across Canada with Scotiabank employees to provide valuable mentorship experiences.
“Scotiabank’s extraordinary level of support to develop market-ready capacities of LGBT+ newcomers and refugee claimants across Canada will have enormous impact on both our participants and the communities in which they live and work,” said Stacy G. Kelly, Director, Philanthropy, The 519.
This mentorship program is in the process of being rolled out nationally, but Scotiabank employees from the Pride Employee Resource Group and the Black Employee Network have already been volunteering their skills with The 519 to help newcomers.
David Zarifian, a Senior Talent Consultant for Scotiabank, began helping with some employment-focused sessions at The 519’s Toronto office before the pandemic hit. Those sessions included resume writing, marketing yourself online, and employee rights in Canada, he said. The program has since shifted online.
Facilitating these workshops has been a very emotional experience for him, “as a gay person of colour and child of immigrants” who fled Iran for political reasons, he said.
“That could have been me, if my family was still living there in the Islamic Republic, under those laws,” Zarifian said. “I'm happy that they’re here, I’m very blessed. I think as Canadians, we take a lot of things for granted. But we live in one of the best countries in the world.”
June marks Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBT+ communities, inclusivity and freedom of expression. The month also serves as a recognition of the tough fight over the years to reach this point, and the progress that still needs to be made.
Zlobina and Kochetkova say they still have nightmares about being back in Russia and are grateful they were able to come to Canada. It wasn’t easy starting over, but they say the assistance they have received from The 519 to settle into their new home has been immensely helpful.
They arrived late one night in January 2018, and by the morning they were already at The 519. The non-profit has been helpful every step of the way since, from finding a lawyer to help them through the refugee process to helping them open bank accounts.
Three-and-a-half years later they are more established in Canada and are now setting sights on the future. Kochetkova is currently working for a family, helping to care for a child with special needs. The job is meaningful for her, she says, but she hopes to eventually return to a career in social services.
Zlobina, who has a master’s degree in graphic arts from Moscow State University of Printing Arts, received the Toronto Art Council Newcomer Mentorship Grant in 2018. Her work is on display in permanent collections in The State Russian Museum, the Tomsk Regional Art Museum and the Surikov Art Museum in Russia, but she hopes to see it included in galleries in her new home soon.
But their most important dream is to be reunited with their kids – a daughter and a son, both in their mid-twenties – in Canada. They are optimistic they will be able to emigrate from Russia.
“We really hope that our kids will be able to join us soon,” said Kochetkova.