Egale Canada Trans Information
and Web Resource

Welcome!

Egale Canada Trans Information and Resource Web

Many of us don’t think much about our gender, although it affects us constantly. And yet, imperceptible social guidelines dictate:

• What our bodies should look like
• What we should wear
• How we should walk & talk

Trans -identified (trans*) and gender non-conforming people break away from one or more of society’s expectations around gender:

• Expectations that insist everyone is either male or female
• That one’s gender expression is and always will be the same
• That gender is rooted in our anatomical sex
• That our behaviors are linked to our gender

Society has a concrete way of dealing with people who do not conform to these expectations. It attempts to force them back into place, to keep them in the “man” category or the “woman” category. As a result many trans and gender non-conforming adults, youth and children (and their families) very often experience significant struggle. They can be deeply affected by societal attitudes and marginalization. This includes overt and covert pressure to conform to gender stereotypes. The pervasive expectation of gender conformity is invisible to the majority of people. For those who experience or express their gender in non-stereotypical ways, daily life can be a constant reminder that they are different from their peers.

Egale Canada is Canada’s LGBTQ human rights organization advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice. Egale is committed to the equality rights, health and well-being of all members of the trans and gender non-conforming community. For that reason, we are undertaking this initiative with the goal of providing a wide range of information services, educational materials and tools for change that support health of body and mind; the pursuit of personal freedom and equality including the freedom to self-identify .

The web site includes a growing list of organizations and resources available on provincial and regional levels, with reports on what different levels of government are doing with regard to trans inclusion within their legal and policy initiatives to be added in the near future. The site will also be used to initiate, assist and promote programs and studies specifically related to the challenges that trans-identified persons face in their daily lives. It will feature news and updates related to trans issues and events in Canada and around the world in all different levels of community and political life.  We hope it will be the first step in the development of a national trans advocacy network within trans communities and among activists across the country and will assist in better promoting understanding and advocacy.  Mickey Wilson, chair of Egale’s Trans Committee says, “we expect that the site will be an education and resource tool as well as a provocateur, encouraging discussion on emerging issues and identifications such as third sex, pan-gendered, androgynous, and intersex”.

* Trans - For our purposes Trans refers to anyone who has a gender identity that is different than their birth sex, and/or expresses their gender in ways that contravene societal expectations of the range of possibilities for men and women. This may include (but is not limited to) people who self-identify as transgender, intersex, Two Spirit, crossdressers, transsexuals, bi-gendered, pan-gendered, genderqueer, androgynous, third gender etc. We also acknowledge the lives, experience and gender expression of others such as female and male impersonators, and drag kings/queens, as well as people whose perceived gender or anatomic sex may conflict with their gender expression (such as masculine-appearing women and feminine-appearing men).