Welcome to the Trans Rights BC website. This project aims to disseminate human rights information that is accurate, accessible, and relevant to the safety and well-being of trans and gender-diverse individuals and their supportive allies across British Columbia.
We hope people empower themselves through this information everyone to advocate for their rights and the rights of those they support through increased knowledge and capacity.
Why TransRightsBC?
Over the last few years, the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre (CWHWC) and the Trans Care BC’s Health Navigation Team have experienced an increase in the number of community members and service providers requesting support and information about trans health and wellness. This could be a result of increased attention to trans stories in the mainstream media, which has raised awareness of the existence of trans identities and made it more comfortable to reach out for support. It may also be a result of recent positive momentum in areas related to LGBTQ rights. We can only speculate. Regardless, more than ever before the timing is excellent for building the capacity of British Columbia to better serve trans and gender-diverse individuals and their allied support networks.
What is the TransRightBC project?
The Trans Rights BC project has reviewed trans-specific legal education resources that already exist and lawyers involved with the project have referenced and reviewed human rights legislation for the province of British Columbia, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and other relevant policy and statues of relevance. Our team has developed content and accessible resources that reflect common concerns and align with current legislation.
This website includes:
- Written and video resources on the top 11 rights-based issues most commonly faced by trans and gender-diverse people.
- An user-friendly online training module for service providers to help them support and advocate for trans and gender-diverse clients.
- Workshop offerings available to introduce the content. Contact us if you are interested in a workshop.
Who are we?
CWHWC and the Trans Care BC’s Health Navigation Team are organizations that are devoted to supporting the health and wellness needs of trans and gender-diverse people and communities – and are heavily utilized. The staff at both organizations have strong representation from trans and gender-diverse people who have broad reaching networks and affiliations throughout trans and gender-diverse communities. We believe that it is vital that trans people are empowered to lead the movement for gender justice in order to ensure that the outcomes of the movement are truly reflective of our needs. The CWHWC has a team of lawyers who are either trans or have years of experience advocating for trans people. barbara findlay, in particular, is a widely known lawyer and advocate for queer and trans people. She has been practicing law since 1977 and was designated as Queen’s Counsel in 2001. The knowledge, skills, and experience she brings to this project around community-based social change will be enormously beneficial.
Thank you!
Trans and gender-diverse individuals may face several barriers to accessing important legal and human rights information. It is important to have information that people need available online and in formats that are meaningful to people.
The TransRights BC project is a collaborative community project. We’d like to thank and acknowledge all who contributed to this initiative for their time, energy, and skills.
Content Development Lead
Shantel Ivits
Content Contributors
Adrienne Smith
Elizabeth Reid
Audrey Wolfe
Drew Clark
Katrina Elisse Caudle
Margaret Haugen
Jen Metcalf
Raven Salander
Vanessa Tara
Danielle Jarvis
Content Development Review
Audrey Wolfe
Drew Clark
Legal Review
barbara findlay
Adrienne Smith
Jen Metcalf
Brenda Belak
Doug King
Web Design & Development
Rojina Farrokhnejad
Graphic Design and Layout
Rebecca Rolseth
Workshop Development & Facilitation
Nikki Zawadzki
Adrienne Smith
Shantel Ivits
Promotions Coordination
Nikki Zawadzki
Video Development Lead
Gwen Haworth
Video Contributors
Anne-Marie Long
Adrienne Smith
Aaron Munro
Education Module Development Lead
Gwen Haworth
Education Module Tech Support
Stacey Boon
Ahssan Mosheref
Education Module Actors
Audrey Wolfe
Lau Mehes
Clifton Chow
Shantel Ivits
Lorraine Grieves
Ayesha Ismail-Kanani
Jennifer Ho
Lulu Gurney
Feral Rizvi
Helenka Jedrzejowski
Activists
Fin Gareau
Tara Chee
Sandra LaFramboise
Alex Mah
Earl Moloney
Aaron Munro
Gayle Roberts
Raven Salander
Elliot Wheatcroft
Michelle Wilson
Tru Wilson
Photographer
Ray McEachern
Project Manager
Helenka Jedrzejowski
We would like to especially thank the Law Foundation of British Columbia for funding this project and making it possible.
