Transgender Awareness Week is an annual reminder to take action. We must advocate for our collective rights, educate the public about transgender people as well as the issues they face, and uplift the positive and insightful stories of trans people.
Transgender is an umbrella term encompassing a wide variety of different experiences and identities. People whose identity is different from the gender imposed upon them at birth may identify as transgender or trans.
Colonial language places people into boxes that may not fit who they truly are from a simple glance. Even the biological status most people indicate as being the binary male or female is incredibly complex and discards the wide spectrum of humans including those who are intersex. With different variables such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, internal and external anatomy, and more – sex and its variance far exceed what people may initially have been taught to think.
Gender is just as open-ended. Under colonial rule it has been defined as the social roles and behaviors within the gender binary of man and woman. However, this definition centers the views, expectations, and assumptions of others.
While an individual’s experience of gender can include social roles and behaviors, it also includes cultural, and mental state of being. In terms of labels, this can mean identifying as female, male, both, neither, somewhere in between, and more. Instead of viewing gender from a strict binary set of rules set by others, gender in actuality, is how someone feels about themselves and how they experience the world.
Canada has seen an increase in transphobic ideology and attacks.
Anti-trans sentiments are not new to the country, despite the federal government moving to protect the rights of transgender people in 2017 with the passing of Bill C-16, making gender identity and expression a protected human right.
Over the past year we have seen political leaders falsely arguing that school boards were “indoctrinating” students about gender issues, Saskatchewan introducing a new law requiring parental permission for students to informally change their name and pronouns at school, Alberta’s proposal of Anti-Trans legislation, and more.
More recently and locally, a mural showcased outside at The Artist Inc in Hamilton was defaced in an intentional transphobic hate crime earlier this fall. The colourful mural by Ris Wong read “ Trans lives are sacred, Trans joy is sacred”. It was graffitied over with transphobic memes, then transphobic comments written in sharpie, and eventually the billboard was ripped all the way across. What was meant to be a sign of hope and love for many, became an example of the harmful, regressive anti-queer ideology locally and globally.
It is up to our so-called leaders to protect and instate the rights of our transgender community members. They must remember that creating a safe and inclusive Canada, Ontario, and Hamilton means stopping this hate at its source instead of perpetuating it further.
While policy makers, governments, world leaders and more must do their part, it is also important for allies to be a part of positive change, keep the trans community safe, and foster a sense of belonging. This means:
“Growing up in Hamilton, I have unfortunately seen my fair share of queer, gender, and race related hate crimes, harassment, and more. Before I came out, I feared what would happen to me if I was a visible trans person, and how that would affect my life in the city – as there weren’t as many accessible or safe spaces for me all those years ago. But as my dysphoria got worse and worse as I tried to bottle up all of my feelings, I could no longer wait for the world to be kinder. I made the brave decision to be scared and be my authentic self anyway.
I’m glad I did, because it saved my life. Even with everything going on, I wouldn’t want to be anything other than myself. I live authentically advocating for my community, especially for those who may not have the privileges I do, working towards a future where they don’t have to worry about what I did. I do it for the black queer and trans femmes, the trans people whose lives have been lost due to hate crimes, and I do it for the cis people who get misgendered and then assaulted because of transphobia – because it affects all of us. Local organizations like the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition, the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, and more give me a spark of hope, but there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure the safety of the transgender community. I hope that one day Hamilton becomes a place of belonging, but until then – as we sit at the 3rd highest rated for hate crimes in Canada, I will continue to put in the work and ask others to do the same.
Trans lives matter.
Gender-affirming care saves lives.”
-Anonymous
The HCLC invites you to sit and think about your own internal and external biases surrounding gender and sex. How can you be a part of change, while making sure not to center yourself?
