'I've faced a lot of discrimination': Being queer and Black has shut doors, renter says

Tamika Krush is a Blackqueersocial justice advocate with hidden mental and physical disabilities and a service dog.

All stacked up, thathas made the 25-year-old Winnipegger a target of housing discrimination over the years, they said.

"I was actually evicted from my previous space for posters in my windows stating 'Justice for Eisha Hudson,'" said Krush, who uses they instead ofgender-specific pronounsshe or he. "And I definitely didn't have the resources or energy to challenge it because [the eviction]wasn't right."

(In April 2020, Eisha Hudson, 16, was shot and killed by a Winnipeg Police officer following a pursuit. Hudson's father and Indigenous leaders later criticized the Independent Investigation Unit report that recommended no charges be laid against policein connection with her death,calling it biased.)

That is just one story of bias and discriminationKrush tells in Part 1 of Unsafe Spaces,a new three-part video series for CBC Manitoba Creator Network.The series, by filmmakers Sidney Phommarath and Melvin Daligdig, explores housingchallenges faced by threeyoung Winnipeggersand the advice they have for their peers.

In Krush's case, their history of evictionand other housing discriminationhas led to a deep-seated fear that is hard to shake.

"I have a pretty deep fear of being houseless," Krush said.

Parts 2 and 3of Unsafe Spaces will be released in the coming weeks. Check out more Creator Network stories here.

This film is part of Unlocked: Housing stories by young Canadians, a national storytelling series by the CBC Creator Network. These personal stories, produced primarily by gen Zers and millennials, reveal the challenges young Canadians face finding affordable housing, their creative solutions and their hopes for the future. You can read more storieshere.