The costs of visibility and voice outside of a northern closet: An autoethnographic account of intersectionality of identities within the mental health workspace

This study is an exploration of the intersectionality of my two identities, lesbian and social worker, within the northern British Columbia (BC) mental health workspace. By taking a transformative stance and making use of queer methodology, I present my voice as both the researcher and the researched. My data sources are based on past recollections and a collection of personal poems, reflections, stories, journal entries, sketches, collages, and photographs. Through autoethnographic accounts, I examine experiences as my identities intersect and become the focus of workplace bullying and harassment within the setting of northern British Columbia (BC) mental health system. I also examine the personal and professional costs of using internal agency and provincially legislated protocols and policies in challenging workplace bullying and harassment behaviour, such as the little-known topic of disenfranchised grief.