Across Canada, the number of police-reported hate crimes that target queer and trans people has steadily increased every year since 2016. But in many countries around the world, things are far more grim. In the pages of Just Gone: True Stories of Persecution for Love and Life, Toronto-based author Jo DeLuzio has collected accounts of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and couples who fled their homes seeking refuge in our country after experiencing trauma and abuse because of their identities. In direct and plain-spoken prose, DeLuzio bears witness to their suffering, often in painful detail, to raise awareness and inspire advocacy.

DeLuzio, an audiologist by trade and author of the memoir Surviving the Closet: Learning to Live After Coming Out Later in Life, was inspired to explore this topic after attending the human rights conference at the annual WorldPride festival in 2014, which was held that year in Toronto. Since then, she has met numerous queer and trans refugees who have settled in Canada, and captured some of their stories in the seven sections that comprise this slim volume. Some of DeLuzio’s interviewees were too frightened to give her permission to tell their stories; all of those who were willing did so pseudonymously. Many asked that identifying details such as their country of origin or religious background or occupation be redacted, still fearful of reprisals from afar.

In providing these testimonies, DeLuzio makes several critical observations about the tenuous and fragile nature of 2SLGBTQ+ personhood worldwide. First, a particular ignominy is reserved for gay men and transgender women, because they defy deeply ingrained cultural constructs about what makes a man and what makes a woman, as well as what sexual acts and behaviours are deemed appropriate for each gender. Second, romantic intimacy between women is frequently rendered invisible in male-dominant societies – or considered irrelevant, or simply incomprehensible – because it doesn’t involve a penis. Furthermore, poverty and class inequity are inextricably linked to queer oppression: the poor suffer the most, and they are the least likely to be able to escape from intolerant regimes.

Sungai, a young man from a Catholic province in Indonesia, undergoes conversion therapy, and is subjected to violent beatings and an exorcism ritual. Mexico, despite having relatively liberal laws about same-sex marriage, is no haven for Roberto and Eric – one of their families conspires to drug, abduct, and abuse them both; one of the men is violated by objects while the other is forced to watch. For Ariella, a Nigerian trans woman, arrival in Canada provides an escape from sexual assault, survival sex work, and homelessness.

For the most part, DeLuzio retells these difficult stories in her own words. When she does provide direct quotes, the pain comes through with great immediacy. Consider Mo, a teenager originally from central Asia, who is arrested and interrogated in his country after a gay meeting place is raided and the police try to extract a confession of his sexual orientation: “Two guards say I am lying. They hit me again and again. Over and over. They have wooden sticks. I feel great pain but I do not cry. Tears will be proof of gay.”

In keeping with her intent to promote positive change, DeLuzio concludes the book with a discussion guide and helpful glossary, as well as a list of recommendations for readers who want to know what they can do to help. Concise, accessible, and moving, Just Gone is a spirited and inspiring call to action for equality and human rights.