Transgender Pride flag raised at city hall to launch week of visibility in Windsor
Advocate hopes for meaningful change as people engage with this week’s events
The LGBTQ community in Windsor is hoping that the days of visibility and engagement being observed this week will bring about meaningful change in the way they and in particular the trans community are treated.
"It feels good. It's a platform," Derrick Carl Biso, volunteer coordinator at Trans Wellness Ontario, told CBC News after a Transgender Pride flag was raised at Windsor city hall on Monday.
Biso expressed appreciation to the city for taking time to recognize the importance and symbolism of the event, which marked the start of Transgender Awareness Week in Windsor.
"That's what we're looking for, it's to be supported and included and given the time to share our story and be centred, in order to hopefully reach more and more people in the community," Biso said.
Biso hopes the activities planned for this week will serve to encourage people to "take some time to think about what kind of world could we build that's different than this one."
'There's so much violence'
While noting that trans people are happy adults who live happy lives, Biso said they do face a lot of violence in their communities and families.
"That's part of the other thing, it's to really try to reach those families who perhaps have trans children who have maybe a trans family member, a lover and who are struggling," Biso said.
"Right now there's so much violence directed through legislation, the way people personally engage with us, the level of disrespect in communication.
"I really hope that as people get to engage with the events this week, start to engage with some of the educational content, they say, 'Wow, you know there's a lot for me to think about, there's a lot of things I don't think about on a regular basis' and to appreciate really the challenge of being someone who's trans," Biso added.
According to Biso, all the LGBTQ community is asking for is "basic respect and dignity and to be treated in a way that's, maybe, friendly. And the reality is some people are just vile and mean and just have no sense of care or compassion."
Systemic discrimination in employment
Meanwhile, president of Trans Wellness Ontario Janet MacIsaac said there's a lot of systemic issues members of the trans community face.
"There's a lot of systemic discrimination when it comes to employment, when it comes to housing, when it comes to accessing health-care services, when it comes to even just being able to get like a transcript from your education with your own name on it," MacIsaac told CBC Windsor Morning.
LISTEN: Janet MacIsaac says transgender people don't alway feel welcome in Windsor:
"There's also systemic issues around the poverty we face as a community that's compounded again with the systemic discrimination that we experience in employment. So many of us are not able to get work or housing by the very fact that we are just trans."
"That's something that is very common within the trans community to experience. Also being kind of disowned or excluded from your family for being yourself. These are things that we commonly experience," she said.
'An opportunity for trans folks to be seen'
Victoria Pedri, a member of Trans Wellness Ontario, said Monday's raising of the Transgender Pride flag is "monumental."
"This week is an opportunity for trans folks to be seen, to be heard and to be listened to," said Pedri.
"That requires that allies and other people who maybe don't understand the trans community come out to these events and support us — take the opportunity to learn and to get involved with everything that we have to offer."
Pedri said the flag raising event is also very important "because it means that the city is at least in some way on our side."
"The trans community throughout history has existed in the closets, in the shadows, and I think this brings us to the forefront. We don't need to hide, we're not going to hide, we're right here," Pedri said.
The week of activities will culminate with Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience on Saturday. A ceremony is planned from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Lanspeary Park.
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With files from Darrin Di Carlo