Empathy and inclusive public safety in the city: Examining LGBTQ2+ voices and experiences of intersectional discrimination

Two dominant approaches to addressing urban public safety, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and feminist safety planning, need more empathetic understanding of intersectional LGBTQ2+ peoples' voices and experiences of discrimination. Using the City of Toronto as case study, we examine through empathy and affect theory lens LGBTQ2+ people's experiences of discrimination in public spaces voiced in focus groups, interviews, and an online survey to articulate community-based knowledge of safety and danger in urban settings. Intersectional identities intertwine in queer lived experiences and responses to expand our understanding of what constitute discrimination and public safety in cities. LGBTQ2+ members perceived danger and safety differently from cisgender heteronormative subjects, particularly in viewing law enforcement officers' role in perpetrating discrimination. •Intersectional identities matter in policing and public safety based on understanding LGBTQ2+ experiences.•Inclusive public safety planning requires empathetic understanding of intersectional LGBTQ2+ peoples’ voices and experiences.•LGBTQ2+ people perceive urban safety differently from cisgender heteronormative subjects due to their unique intersectional gendered identities.•Racialized LGBTQ2+ people under-report hate crimes to the police, perceived as perpetrators of harassment.•LGBTQ2+ survivors’ polyvocality and lived experiences can help police forces, environmental urban planners and psychologists develop more empathetic public safety program design.