Publication Date: September 17, 2024
Price: $24.99 CAD
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781998206025
E-ISBN: 9781998206032
Toronto, On – Across Canada, the number of police-reported hate crimes that target queer and trans people has steadily increased every year since 2016. But in many countries around the world, things are far more grim. In the pages of Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life, Toronto-based author Jo DeLuzio has collected accounts of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and couples who fled their homes seeking refuge in our country after experiencing trauma and abuse because of their identities. In direct and plain-spoken prose, DeLuzio bears witness to their suffering, often in painful detail, to raise awareness and inspire advocacy.
DeLuzio, an audiologist by trade and author of the memoir Surviving the Closet: Learning to Live After Coming Out Later in Life, was inspired to explore this topic after attending the human rights conference at the annual WorldPride festival in 2014, which was held that year in Toronto. Since then, she has met numerous queer and trans refugees who have settled in Canada, and captured some of their stories in the seven sections that comprise this slim volume. Some of DeLuzio’s interviewees were too frightened to give her permission to tell their stories; all of those who were willing did so pseudonymously. Many asked that identifying details such as their country of origin or religious background or occupation be redacted, still fearful of reprisals from afar.
In providing these testimonies, DeLuzio makes several critical observations about the tenuous and fragile nature of 2SLGBTQ+ personhood worldwide. First, a particular ignominy is reserved for gay men and transgender women, because they defy deeply ingrained cultural constructs about what makes a man and what makes a woman, as well as what sexual acts and behaviours are deemed appropriate for each gender. Second, romantic intimacy between women is frequently rendered invisible in male-dominant societies – or considered irrelevant, or simply incomprehensible – because it doesn’t involve a penis. Furthermore, poverty and class inequity are inextricably linked to queer oppression: the poor suffer the most, and they are the least likely to be able to escape from intolerant regimes.
In keeping with her intent to promote positive change, DeLuzio concludes the book with a discussion guide and helpful glossary, as well as a list of recommendations for readers who want to know what they can do to help.
Concise, accessible, and moving, Just Gone is a spirited and inspiring call to action for equality and human rights that has already hit the best seller list for Presales.
Follow Jo DeLuzio:
https://www.instagram.com/jodeluzio/
