Cindy Holmes PhD

Cindy’s interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching grows out of over 25 years of community-based work and is informed by decolonial and anti-racist feminist, queer and trans theories and social justice movements. Her research and teaching interests include: the intersections between violence, health and place; the wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, trans and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) people, including children and their families; white settler colonialism and decolonization; intersectional feminist theories; critical discourse analysis; health geography; community-based participatory action research methodologies, including Photovoice and other arts-based approaches.

Cindy’s current research includes various studies that address health equity and social justice. These include: a Photovoice research project exploring trans, Two-Spirit and gender nonconforming people’s experiences of safety, wellbeing, belonging and place; two multidisciplinary pan-Canadian research teams exploring the wellbeing of transgender children and youth in clinical care and their families; and a project exploring the experiences of people living with chronic pain who experience structural violence (LGBTQ2S people, Indigenous people, newcomers and refugees). She is also a member of the Canadian Coalition Against LGBTQ+ Poverty (CCALP) developing a national research agenda about poverty and health for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, and queer people through a CIHR-funded research meeting, and a member of the Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder (CREST.BD).