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By John McDonald
It may have been small, but Kelowna’s first Transgender Day of Remembrance was significant, says a local transgendered woman who attended the event Sunday at the Okanagan Rainbow Coalition Centre.
It’s a day set aside to remember transgendered people who were murdered around the world.
“I didn’t know any of them personally,” said Catherine, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “But one of the girls was the same age as me and had the same name. She was stabbed to death in El Salvador. I thought, wow, that could be me.”
The woman was one name on a list of 162 people who were murdered for intolerant views about people who have crossed genders. Closer to home, Catherine said there’s usually from 20 to 30 names on the list from North America and Britain.
While she’s never experienced such violence herself, Catherine said she has several transgendered friends who have.
“It runs the gamut from being threatened to one who was beaten…and raped,” she added. “It was in Alberta. She had just started transitioning and after that happened, she stopped.”
Catherine, who is in her late 20s, spent her teenage years in Kelowna, before moving away for school. She came back about five years ago and just recently began her transition with hormone therapy.
Like most transgendered women and men, Catherine says she knew from the beginning that her mental gender didn’t match her physical gender.
“I knew I was trans, but didn’t want to accept it,” she said, adding that the knowledge left her depressed and suicidal. “I didn’t see any possibility of a good life.”
Self-employed in computer information systems, Catherine says she’s never been happier since beginning her transition,
first with psychotherapy and now with hormone treatment in preparation for eventual surgery.
“This has been the best year of my life and I can say that without any reservations,” she added. “You stop fighting it and you feel
significantly better. I don’t think I can adequately express how good it is for me now compared to before.”
Catherine says Kelowna is on the low end of tolerance for transgendered people, especially when compared to Vancouver, where she may eventually relocate.
“Vancouver is the trans capital of Canada, especially when it comes to health services,” she added.
Ironically, ignorance of transsexuality can actually work in Kelowna’s favour for trans people who can successfully pass as their chosen gender.
“In Vancouver, people tend to look at you more carefully because they know trans people exist,” Catherine said. “Here, they don’t know and don’t even think about it. I’ve had friends who said it was really nice here to pass all the time. In Vancouver, they might look good, but some people can still tell.”
The downside here is the lack of medical resources. “For the most part, they simply aren’t available,” she said. “When I went to Kelowna mental health, they could help me with anxiety and depression, but nobody could help me with trans stuff. Unfortunately, Interior Health doesn’t see it as a priority. They choose not to provide the service and they also choose not to tell you about other resources in the province.”
Her message to those who know little about transsexuality is to educate yourself.
“I can talk about what it’s like to be trans, but I don’t think it gets conveyed properly,” she said. “It’s not as rare as you think and it’s not deviant.”
john@kelowna.com
250-575-0521
Tags: hormone, transgender, transsexual
