Alex Brakovich
Meet the man reforming Toronto’s shelter system for LGBTQ youth.
In his lifetime, independent researcher, Dr. Alex Abramovich has come out to his family twice.
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He first came out as gay to his family in his early 20s, but keeps the challenges of his story under wraps. After all the work he and his family have done to reconnect, he doesn’t want to bring up old, negative feelings.
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“I didn’t have support, but my parent’s never stopped loving me which I think is key,” Abramovich says.
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10 years later, Abramovich had a second coming out just after starting his PhD at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. This time as a trans-man.
Alex Abramovich (left), his baby Noah (centre) and his wife Caroline Senger (left).
Photo by Kaitlyn Smith.
Coming out as trans had its own challenges. Abramovich said it complicated things with his colleagues who didn’t understand and weren’t very respectful of the transition.
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For two years now, Abramovich has worked for the Centre of Mental Health and Addiction, researching and advocating for LGBTQ homeless youth in Toronto. His work has led to policy changes in youth shelters, from the intake process to transitional housing.
Abramovich says, his own experiences have motivated his research and are the reason he’s been able to help so many LGBTQ homeless youth in Toronto.
“Because of what I’ve gone through, I feel like I can relate to the participants,” he says. “They need someone who resembles them.”
When Abramovich first came out to his family in 2000, he did some digging into the resources available for LGBTQ youth with unsupportive homes and, finding few to none available, realized just how easy it is for LGBTQ youth to end up homeless.
Beginning his PhD, Abramovich reached out to shelters, agencies and services for homeless youth in Toronto to study the presence and problems the LGBTQ community face there. The agencies met him with rejection.
However, they said that if Abramovich could provide data that would show there was an issue then they would consider his recommendations.
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“I realized there was a problem before I started to do this research,” Abramovich says.
He just needed to prove it to others and the only way to do so was with evidence.
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Evidence building led to the acquaintance and his eventual friendship with Teal-Rose Jaques.
Previously homeless, Jaques was recommended to a video project with Abramovich in 2010.
Now an employed community worker with LGBTQ youth, Jaques recounted the conflict she experienced maneuvering through the shelter system for five years.
Employees’ refusal to accept her name change and other issues around Jaque’s non-binary, gender fluidity unfairly segregated her from quality care, she explains.
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Already on her way to improving shelter policies, Jaques says Abramovich showed her to use storytelling as a means to affect change.
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“Alex showed me that I can educate others by sharing my experience and continuing with things like trans 101s and the like,” Jaques says. “He has a strong view in empowering people who have been left behind and forgotten.”
Abramovich has also had a hand in effecting nation-wide change.
Alex Abramovich (left), his baby Noah (centre) and his wife Caroline Senger (left).
Photo by Kaitlyn Smith.
Last year, Abramovich advised the government of Alberta on LGBTQ youth homelessness issues. Five out of six of his recommendations were adopted, an accomplishment he’s very proud of.
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He played a large role in Toronto’s LGBT Toolkit, which trains long-term care home staff to provide better quality care to LGBT-identified clients.
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His research helped lay the foundation of two city-funded transitional housing apartments tailored to homeless LGBTQ people.
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And, with the help of his growing media popularity, Abramovich has become the face of a changing shelter system in Toronto.
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People outside the LGBTQ community produce great research, but those within the community apply a “particular kind of knowledge and experience that’s valuable,” says Dr. Lori Ross from Researching LGBTQ Health.
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Abramovich reached out to Ross for his post-doctorate placement at CAMH in 2014. She recognizes his commitment to his work.
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“I feel deeply respected at CAMH as a researcher and I feel that the hospital has really taken the time to understand myresearch and promote my work,” Abramovich says. “I’ve never felt more respected in the work place than I do here.”
Abramovich’s number one fan, though, is his wife, Caroline Senger.
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Abramovich met Senger in 2010 at the Queer Slow Dance hosted by the Dovercourt House downtown Toronto.
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Abramovich says the dances are nice, if you like cheesy events and slow-dancing.
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She had a positive influence on him: “I’d never been in such a loving relationship,” he admits.
When they first started dating, Abramovich was afraid his busy schedule would affect their relationship.
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But as their affections deepened, Senger instilled confidence in Abramovich who more further embraced his identity as a trans-man. This had a significant affect in the reparations he would make with his family.
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When his family saw the life he was making, and how passionate he was about his work “it helped them see that I’m okay,” Abramovich says.
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In this, something shifted. “Perhaps coming out meant I would be a different person,” says Abramovich, describing what he believes might have been the potential fear and reason for his family’s disapproval.
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“I’m still the same person,” he told them, not so much in words, but in action.
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Senger stood beside Abramovich through his transition, which he says has never been a conflict in their relationship. She was there for every doctor’s appointment, every road bump, every tumult of emotion that comes with transitioning he says.
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Their biggest challenge would come in the shape of, now, 3-month- old, baby Noah. “We had to fight so hard for her,” says Abramovich.
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Abramovich is passionate about his work, and grateful for every opportunity, every transition to better shelters for LGBT people. But, there’s a parent’s tone in the type of role model and education he is excited to be and provide for his child in the future.
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“I just want to be a role model in her life; someone who she’s not afraid of. I don’t want her to ever be afraid to be herself however hard it can be in this world,” he says. And Abramovich isn’t tired to change it either.
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“(He’s) given people a sense of control over their lives,” says Jaques. “He gives them a voice.”
