As anti-trans hate rises, N.B. activists share how to support those targeted

For the trans community, Alex Ash says the year is bookended by two significant dates.

On March 31, the community celebrates Trans Day of Visibility — its right to exist, to be joyful and safe. In November, though, is Trans Day of Remembrance.

"We have to grieve the lives of our trans siblings we've lost in the course of a year because there is still so much violence put upon our community," said Ash, board chair for the non-profit Chroma New Brunswick in Saint John.

A wave of anti-trans legislation, including restriction of gender-affirming care and the banning of drag shows, has been making headlines in the United States.

Ash said the trans youth they work with are scared, especially of not being able to be themselves.

"It is an unsafe time to be trans and gender non-conforming at the moment," they said.

Ash said there are some key ways to support people who are suffering, not just because of anti-trans legislation south of the border, but also rising hate here in Canada.

For Ash, it all comes down to education.

They know from being an educator in the trans community that access to support and gender-affirming care can be lifesaving. 

Transgender youth are far more likely than their peers to think about suicide or attempt it, according to a recent study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

For people who don't know much about the trans community, it's easy to fall victim to misinformation, they said.

"If you're reading a bunch of articles about how we're all evil and unhappy and miserable, look for the other side. Be critical when you take in information," said Ash. 

Chroma N.B. offers workshops on how to be an ally and a monthly workshop called Beyond Acceptance, where parents and family members can ask questions about the queer community. 

Getting to actually know trans people, too, is important.

Link Langille-Watkins, a transgender man and digital artist in Fredericton, said respecting members of the trans community is the bare minimum individuals can do.

"Remember that when people are online talking about things that are transphobic, being against trans people, you're talking about individual people," he said. "It's not just some concept, it's actual people."

A petition asking Canada to grant asylum to LGBTQ individuals from the U.S. has more than 145,000 signatures.

It was started by Ontario-based activist Cait Glasson and will be brought to the House of Commons in May.

Langille-Watkins grew up in the 1990s in rural New Brunswick and knows what it's like not to have access to the kind of support that's being banned in the U.S. He said he "absolutely" supports the movement.

"It's best to go somewhere where they are safe," he said.

Fundraising for health care is equally important, because while getting to Canada safely is one thing, accessing resources is something else entirely, and the hidden costs associated with transitioning or gender-affirming care can be high.

In New Brunswick, Langille-Watkins said there's only one surgeon who performs top surgery, and while that is covered by Medicare, additional procedures such as liposuction, which can help remove some of the excess tissue around the breasts, are not. He also said some general practitioners lack training on how to provide gender-affirming care. 

There's still so much work to do in Canada to improve trans rights, Ash said.

People fleeing the U.S. should research where in Canada they're going to stay as they might not have access to the health care they were banned from getting in their home country.

Ash also pointed to coverage coming out of Prince Edward Island about the transgender community there being forced to reschedule an event due to surging anti-trans sentiment. In New Brunswick, Ash points to protests at drag story time events in both Saint John and Moncton.

"I think oftentimes Canadians [say] oh, well it won't happen here," Ash said. "But it already is. Maybe not in legislation, but in action."

That's why creating and protecting safe spaces for trans and gender-diverse youth is also something people in Canada can do to support people being targeted by hate, Ash said. 

And for adults in the trans and gender-diverse community, showing youth they can have happy and fulfilling lives is important. A strength Ash said the community has through all of this right now is a refusal to go back to hiding.

"Maybe because there is more visibility and more support, people are like, 'I've had a taste of living authentically, and I don't want to not be myself. Even though it's hard, even though there's a long way to go, I don't want to go back.'"