Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being mocked on social media after he published two posts that mention the latest woke iteration of an acronym for people with different sexual identities —  2SLGBTQQIA+ — which some likened to an encrypted password or “headbutting the keyboard.”

No matter who you are or who you love, you should have every opportunity to succeed in Canada. The Government of Canada has taken historic action in recent years to build a better, more inclusive future for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse people (2SLGBTQI+), and we know there is more to be done.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, joined by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Marci Ien, today launched Canada’s first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan… Building our future, with pride, a whole-of-government approach to achieve a future where everyone in Canada is truly free to be who they are and love who they love.

The Action Plan will:

• Prioritize and sustain 2SLGBTQI+ community action by supporting 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations in advocating for and serving the communities they represent;
• Continue to advance and strengthen 2SLGBTQI+ rights at home and abroad including by building on the criminalization of conversion therapy and launching consultations on additional criminal law reforms, as well as continuing to invest in projects abroad through Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy;
• Support Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ resilience and resurgence including by continuing to fund Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations, placing the “2S” to represent Two-Spirit people at the front of the 2SLGBTQI+ acronym, and creating a dedicated Two-Spirit Senior Advisor position within the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat;
• Engage everyone in Canada in fostering a more inclusive future by investing in awareness campaigns to improve understanding of 2SLGBTQI+ communities and issues;
• Strengthen 2SLGBTQI+ data and evidence-based policy making by improving data collection, analysis, research, and knowledge on 2SLGBTQI+ communities and the barriers they face in Canada; and
• Embed 2SLGBTQI+ issues in the work of the Government of Canada by ensuring coordinated action to advance 2SLGBTQI+ priorities across federal government organizations.

Budget 2022 committed $100 million over five years to develop and implement the Action Plan to benefit 2SLGBTQI+ people. The Prime Minister today also announced that this includes:

• Up to $75 million for 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations that advocate for and serve their communities:
  • $40 million in new capacity-building support, prioritizing funding for 2SLGBTQI+ communities experiencing additional marginalization, such as Black, racialized, and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities, 2SLGBTQI+ persons with disabilities, seniors, youth, official language minority communities, and those living in rural communities; and
  • $35 million in new project-focused support aimed at addressing specific barriers to 2SLGBTQI+ equality.
• $11.7 million for the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat to oversee and implement the Action Plan;
• $7.7 million for data collection and community-led policy research to support federal action on 2SLGBTQI+ issues; and
• $5.6 million to develop and implement awareness campaigns that focus on breaking down stigma and ending discrimination for 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.

The Action Plan was developed with community leaders, researchers, and organizations. It speaks to the concerns of diverse members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities across the country and uses an intersectional, holistic, and long-term approach to breaking down barriers and fighting the discrimination and oppression of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.

Building on the historic action already taken, the Action Plan is an evergreen document that continues to celebrate Canadians for who they are. While it is a historical first, the work does not end here – this Action Plan will continue to guide our work into the future. The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces and territories, cities and towns, community organizations, and 2SLGBTQI+ people from all walks of life to build a better future we can all be proud of.

Quick Facts

• Terminology and acronyms are continuously evolving. Based on extensive consultation with 2SLGBTQI+ communities across the country, the Government of Canada will adopt and encourage the use of the 2SLGBTQI+ acronym (2ELGBTQI+ in French), which is more inclusive and places the experiences of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities at the foreground as the first 2SLGBTQI+ peoples in North America. It stands for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse people.
• Between fall 2020 and summer 2021, the Government of Canada undertook a community engagement process to inform the development of the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, including 25,636 survey responses, 102 written submissions, and roundtable discussions with over 100 participants.
• The Government of Canada has taken historic action in recent years to advance equality and create better opportunities for 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians, including:
  • In 2016, the Prime Minister appointed a Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues, and shortly thereafter, created what is now called the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat with the mandate to provide the federal government with pathways to address historical and ongoing injustices experienced by 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada;
  • In 2017, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code were updated to protect gender identity and gender expression;
  • In 2017, the Prime Minister apologized in the House of Commons for the systemic oppression, rejection, and criminalization of Canadians identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit;
  • In 2018, the Federal Court approved the LGBT Purge Class Action Final Settlement Agreement;
  • In 2018, the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act for eligible offences involving consensual same-sex sexual activity became law;
  • In 2019, the government repealed anal intercourse, vagrancy, and bawdy house offences from the Criminal Code;
  • In 2019, the government announced targeted programming for 2SLGBTQI+ communities, including the Community Capacity Fund and advancing 2SLGBTQI+ rights globally through Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy;
  • In 2022, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Conversion Therapy) became law, criminalizing this cruel, harmful, and degrading practice; and
  • In 2022, the Prime Minister launched Canada’s first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan.

The number and letter ‘2S’ in 2SLGBTQQIA+ includes people who identify as “Two-spirit,” ​referring to someone who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit. It is used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe their sexual identity.

The acronym, which used to be most commonly known as “LGBTQ,” sparked confusion among social media users.

Gad Saad, an evolutionary behavioral scientist and professor at Montreal’s Concordia University, mocked the lengthy acronym. 

“What about the F##^*#>€PKSDFNNM+¥*+? Their lived experiences matter too. Please be more inclusive,” he wrote. “[You truly are a caricature of the worst woke stereotype. Void of any profundity.]”

Others compared the combination of characters to an encrypted password, with video journalist Luke Rudlowski asking, “Is 2SLGBTQQIA his laptop password?”

In a separate statement, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett gave more context to the vigil and acronym used by Trudeau, spelling out the different identities included. 

“Headbutting the keyboard is now a sexuality,” British rapper Nzube Olisaebuka Udezue, also known as ZUBY, replied to Trudeau. 

“Is that the actual acronym now or did his cat walk across the keyboard?” conservative commentator Matt Walsh tweeted.