When Georgi Georgievski came out to his parents as gay during his first year of university, that decision cost him dearly. He is, literally, still paying for it, in the form of student debt.He’s not alone. A new poll by Forum Research, believed to be the first Canadian survey on student debt to ask about sexual orientation, shows the LGBTQ+ community is harder hit. Members are more likely to rack up greater student debt, take on a second job to pay it off, and make lifestyle changes because of it.Before the revelation, Georgievski lived with his parents and they paid for his education at the University of Toronto. But afterwards, he says he was kicked out of the home, ostracized from his family and forced into emergency housing at the university, where he stayed for a month before couch-surfing at friends’ places.Homeless, he put his studies on hold and began working, first as a bank teller and then a program co-ordinator at Egale Canada, which works to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people.“My work (at Egale) helped me find meaning in my trauma,” recalls Georgievski, 28. “It gave me, almost, a purpose and inspired me to go back to school.”Returning to university, after a two-year hiatus, required a student loan. He got it, along with an undergraduate and master’s degree.“I ended up with almost $50,000 (in student debt),” says Georgievski, who graduated in December. To pay it off more quickly — he now owes $42,000 — he juggles two jobs, as a part-time research assistant at the university and a full-time social worker in transitional care at Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, part of Sinai Health System. And he’s extremely conscious about how he spends money. He’s cut back on trips, entertainment and buying clothes and packs his lunch everyday.The Forum Poll, conducted by phone in late August, was a random sample of 1,163 Canadians, aged 16 and up, who attended post-secondary school. About one ...
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