Hanine El Mir

Hanine El Mir (she/they) worked internally at the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness investigating what belonging looked like for LGBTQ+ newcomers to Montreal.  We were curious about how Queer newcomers navigated complex environments and created spaces of belonging.  

Report

Our Stories: Belonging and Isolation for 2SLGBTQIA+ Newcomers in Quebec 

This project looks at the lived experiences of five LGBTQIA+ newcomers in Quebec, in order to combat isolation and gain an integral sense of community. Through interviews, participant observation and game theory, combined with a literature review, this research project points at three areas of improvement when it comes to ensuring LGBTQIA+ newcomers in Montreal feel like they belong. The main issues highlighted are a linguistic barrier, financial precarity, and a lack of variety in the events or services offered. In addition to the above, this research argues that LGBTQIA+ newcomers in Montreal are lacking the adequate space to simply exist as themselves, without any expectations. 

Gamifying our Findings: Our Stories (Mini-Game) 

Hanine also created a video game highlighting the key findings from their report. Play through as a LGBTQ newcomer to Canada, looking for community spaces.  

Community Engagement Initiative

Hanine interviewed 5 LGBTQ+ newcomers to understand what belonging meant for them, and how they navigated living in Montreal. In addition, she created a game that walk players through her findings. Read more here: Our Stories.  

Read Hanine’s blog: Roll for Belonging: Role-Playing Games and Inclusion in the Queer Community 

DND Homebrew: Try Your Own Campaign  

Exploration is crucial to community building for many LGBTQ+ folks, play Hanine’s homebrew campaign based around belonging.  

Bio

Hanine El Mir (she/her) is an activist first and aspiring anthropologist more recently. She holds an MA in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Concordia University, a BA in English Literature and a BA in Media/Communications, with two minors in Film/Visual Studies and Arabic Language, from the American University of Beirut. In their free time, Hanine tends to a community garden, cooks at a vegan solidarity kitchen, and makes games.  

Keywords

Community, 2SLGBTQIA+, Queer, QueerGames, Newcomers, Immigration, Refugee, Montreal, Quebec, Stories, DnD