Journal of Homosexuality, 59:149–185, 2012 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0091-8369 print/1540-3602 online DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2012.648877 Race Relations and Racism in the LGBTQ Community of Toronto: Perceptions of Gay and Queer Social Service Providers of Color SULAIMON GIWA, PhD Candidate, DipPE, BA, MSW Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, School of Social Work, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada CAMERON GREENSMITH, PhD Student, BA, MA Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada This article explores race relations and racism within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community of Toronto, Ontario, from the perspective of seven gay/queer social service providers of color. Social constructions of race, race rela- tions, and racism were placed at the centre of analysis. Employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, findings indicated that intergroup and broader systemic racism infiltrates the LGBTQ com- munity, rendering invisible the lived experiences of many LGBTQ people of color. The study contributes to a growing body of research concerning our understanding of factors underpinning social discrimination in a contemporary Canadian LGBTQ context. KEYWORDS race relations, racism, gay and queer social ser- vice providers of color, interpretive phenomenological analysis research, qualitative, Canada Race has become metaphorical—a way of referring to and disguising forces, events, classes, and expressions of social decay and economic division far more threatening to the body politic than biological “race” The authors would like to thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers, whose constructive feedback is greatly appreciated. Address correspondence to Sulaimon Giwa, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, School of Social Work, York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. E-mail: sol.giwa@gmail.com 149