Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Jo DeLuzio Is Helping To Change Our World

Believe people when they say they love what you wrote, or that your writing moved them in some way. We learn from our harshest critics, but sometimes the negative comments are easier to believe, to internalize and to take personally. I wish I had learned sooner to say thank-you with a smile, and to give myself a pat on the back.

As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jo DeLuzio

Jo DeLuzio is a Canadian audiologist who resides in Toronto with her wife, and two of her six adult children. Outside of the audiology world, she writes about the oppression and horrific treatment of people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ globally. Jo published her book Surviving the Closet, with RE:BOOKS in the Fall 2023, and her book Just Gone in the Fall of 2024.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

I was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, which is a small steel-manufacturing town in northern Ontario along the banks of the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. I had a happy, family-oriented childhood but was completely oblivious to most of the humanitarian crises that were occurring around the world. Certainly, rights and protections for 2SLGBTQ+ people were not on my radar until Anita Bryant took up the crusade to remove a local ordinance in Florida that protected discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation. By then I was attending University in London, Ontario.

When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?

When my children were very little, a woman I met at their dancing school, who was originally from South Africa, suggested I read the book The Power of One, written by Bryce Courtenay, and first published in 1989. The message has always stayed with me that one person can make a difference.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have certainly made many mistakes, but I cannot think of any offhand that were funny. Although not really a car person, I agree with Henry Ford’s quote: The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?

I think it is critically important to tell the stories of 2SLGBTQ+ people who had to flee their home countries and seek refuge elsewhere because of the cruel, and inhumane treatment they were receiving. As I state in my book, there are numerous countries where 2SLGBTQ+ people are denied access to housing, education, health care, and employment. In some areas, the violence and hate directed against them seems almost impossible to endure. In immeasurable cases, they are being bullied, ridiculed, sexually assaulted, beaten, tortured, and even hunted down and then literally slaughtered. Until we recognize and acknowledge the cruelties that have occurred and continue to occur against 2SLGBTQ+ people globally, we have no chance of affecting any real change. When these people courageously tell their stories, they are no longer statistics buried somewhere in a news article. By providing information and increasing awareness, it is my hope that people will step up and face what occurs when we ignore the hate and continue to permit homophobia and transphobia to continue. By their very definition, human rights are not for one specific gender or sexual orientation. And they are not a privilege. They are for everyone.

Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?

The book is about the stories of nine survivors who sought refuge in Canada, forced to escape assault, torture, and even death in their home countries due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Through their eyes, we begin to understand what it means to have your identity make it impossible to safely exist. It would be impossible for me to pick just one story that is most interesting. Many of these stories are beyond comprehension, and they are extremely difficult to process. I would say that the story of “Mo” was particularly gut-wrenching for me because he was so very young when I interviewed him — technically still a teenager. I could not then, and I cannot now understand how someone so young could have the strength and courage to endure the torture that he did, and then to leave his country, home, and family forever.

What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?

The importance of such a book came to me years ago after I attended the Human Rights Conference associated with World Pride when it was held in Toronto, Canada in 2014. There I met a young man who told me he had been repeatedly beaten and bullied just because the way he walked was deemed by people in his country to be too feminine. I naively asked him why he didn’t try to stay in Canada and seek asylum. He told me he had to return to his country to fight for the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people there, even if he had to die trying. This started my journey into trying to develop some understanding about what happens to the people who are 2SLGBTQ+ in his country, or any other country, who fear for their lives and want to escape. How do they leave their countries and what is their journey like? What I didn’t know was whether any of them would be willing to speak with me and if they wanted their stories told. All the pain and suffering they endured doesn’t go away simply because they now reside elsewhere, and many of them still do not feel safe. Sometimes, details about their lives and how they fled from their country must be kept completely confidential. Their trust in me to tell their stories was and continues to be overwhelming. I am humbled by their courage.

Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

Almost all the people who I interviewed used pseudonyms, and some details of their lives and their journeys were not disclosed in the book to protect them, and in some cases to protect their families. It is also critical not to disclose some information about who helped them leave for the safety of others in their countries who need to flee. This book isn’t about me, and it isn’t my cause. Human rights denied to 2SLGBTQ+ people, or Indigenous people, or any

other oppressed group for that matter, are fundamentally everyone’s to lose. If we can be denied our human rights, it might not be too much of a stretch for you to be denied yours. This fight is for all of us.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Hate and discrimination are hard to tackle, but I do have 3 suggestions:

1. Find out what organizations provide support and assistance to 2SLGBTQ+ refugees in your area. Donate money if you are able, or volunteer if they are seeking volunteers. For example, Rainbow Railroad (www.rainbowroad.org), a global not-for-profit organization based in the United States and Canada that helps at-risk 2SLGBTQ+ people get to safety worldwide. Other examples would be organizations providing health services to refugees, particularly for those people living with HIV/AIDS. Many people who are 2SLGBTQ+ refugees were unable to access health services in their home countries.
2. Do not vote for politicians who seek to deny people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ basic human rights and protections. Endorse and vote for candidates who do support 2SLGBTQ+ rights and refugees.
3. Hire a 2SLGBTQ+ refugee who has a work permit.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Real leaders empower and inspire others to work to their fullest capacity. They listen actively to others and respect multiple points of view. They welcome diversity. A powerful leader is not afraid to acknowledge when they are wrong, or to say they are sorry. Power doesn’t come from keeping information — it comes from sharing knowledge.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

I am not sure I can give you examples for each one, unless you want me to write another book! But I can identify 5 things I wish someone would have told me before I started.

1. Writing can be very isolating. When I write, my wife says I am “in the zone”. I don’t want to speak with anyone or be near anyone. In fact, I cannot even hear what anyone is saying. I need to be totally in my head. This is an activity that you need to do alone, but it can get lonely. I didn’t expect that.
2. It is ok to say “no” sometimes — to learn your limits. If as a writer you think a deadline might be unrealistic, for example, then you need to speak up.
3. One of the people from the publishing company told me to reread my first book as if I don’t. know anything about the topic and have never heard any of the stories before. I wish I had learned that sooner. This advice has made me a better writer.
4. Writing is harder than it looks. (Says Captain Obvious!)
5. Believe people when they say they love what you wrote, or that your writing moved them in some way. We learn from our harshest critics, but sometimes the negative comments are easier to believe, to internalize and to take personally. I wish I had learned sooner to say thank-you with a smile, and to give myself a pat on the back.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favourite quote is: Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women. By Maya Angelou. She was truly an inspirational woman!

As a queer woman who came out much later in life, I had to find courage from within to break free from mandatory heterosexuality and primarily male-prescribed gender roles. No one was going to hand me my authentic life. I had to claim it for myself. And if I can do it, maybe other women can too. That was a key message in my book Surviving the Closet. My coming out might bring hope to other women who are closeted.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would love to meet Kamala Harris, but I am sure that isn’t going to happen any time soon! She demonstrates true caring for the most vulnerable of people, and she certainly has the capacity to draw attention to the horrific treatment of people who have different sexual orientations and gender identities or expressions globally. If she could show the world she cares, maybe other people would care too. We cannot change what the world does not acknowledge.

I guess meeting Anderson Cooper would be a close second. He is certainly in a position to affect change, and I admire his courage in telling the world about the family he has created as a person who is gay.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I am finally on Instagram! jodeluzio

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

Thank-you for this opportunity.