I used to enjoy trans awareness week. It was wholesome. Lots of cute stories shared, some education done and awareness raised. Now it hits differently. For the last few years it's taken place against a backdrop of backlash, with trans communities increasingly at risk, increasingly concerned by the tidal shift we are seeing, the fear it inspires and its seeming inevitability. I feel powerless, even though I know I, and we, are not.
Now, I spend this week like I spend most weeks. Worried about the future, and determined to do everything in my power to sound the alarm, build the movement and turn the tide. This blog is my latest attempt, invitation and call to action.
I hate that it sounds extreme to even put into words. But we're headed down a terrifying path and I think being blunt about what's going on is necessary. Maybe I'm catastrophizing. But I don’t think I am.
What's going on:
Trans and gender diverse people are being subjected to an existential assault, as a proxy, a convenient target, for far right groups and some politicians - those politicians who either oppose our rights or are so cynical, so lacking in empathy, they're willing to trade our rights for their power. To them, we are nothing but fuel for their base and a new wedge they can wield against their opponents. On the global stage, whole governments are aligning against us. Our humanity, dignity and safety are being stripped away one policy, one piece of legislation, one right and one freedom at a time.
In Canada, in places like Alberta and Saskatchewan, legislative regression is already underway. They are creating more hostile school environments, making it harder for trans youth to come out and be themselves at school. In both, they’re also making it even more difficult for young people to access education about sexual health, well-being, healthy relationships and diverse families.
In Alberta, they are coming for our healthcare - starting with trans youth, banning evidence-based health interventions, violating the sacrosanct relationship between patients and their family physicians, taking choices away from young people and their families. Premier Smith is forcing trans people out of sport - and doing so through policies that will subject women and girls to invasive sex-checks.
In Saskatchewan - and likely soon in Alberta - politicians are invoking the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to circumvent the courts and implement their policies even if - as was the case in Saskatchewan - a judge found a risk those same policies might cause “irreparable harm to vulnerable children”. That’s Canada in 2025.
Anti-trans groups are making it harder and harder for trans people to exist and participate in the world. Politicians are layering onto rising hate with regressive legislation based on that same hate, using institutional power to further embed hostility towards trans and gender diverse people.
The public is being turned against us - a tiny, historically marginalized and misunderstood fragment of a percentage of the population. We are being slandered, misrepresented, scapegoated and turned into a Boogeyman at all once. We are being dehumanized, one day at a time. We are telling our stories, dispelling their lies, but we don't have the power or platforms they do. They have...decades of latent transphobia and homophobia on their side. Most people don't know a trans person. We are easily maligned, easily made into a problem to be solved.
As a community we have been where we know this leads. We have been there before, and we survived it then. One must look back but a bare few decades to see where we are headed. Back then, a trans person coming out usually lost their family, their friends and their job. They became outcasts. Trans kids existed then - but they didn't come out. They weren't treated well. They too were freaks and outcasts. They were taught to hide - a hell in and of itself - or pay a devastating price. People suffered, terribly, because of a combination of social animosity and government hostility and neglect. It is a stain on our past. And it's coming back.
Why should you care?
Because trans people deserve dignity, freedom and human rights - just like everyone else. If that's not enough, how's this: the tidal shift we are witnessing is using trans people as a means to an end. We are one target of many, within an agenda to strip away human rights protections writ-large, weaken checks and balances on government power, and erode the social fabric that holds our beautiful and diverse communities together. Democracy is at stake. Everyone - but especially marginalized people - will pay the price if we continue down this path.
This is about trans people, but it's not just about us. It's a struggle for the soul of society, the health of our democracy, and the future we want for our families and the next generation. I hate the “first domino” metaphor - it feels woefully reductive and inadequate - but it’s what comes to mind. If we permit the erosion of trans rights, the constriction of trans people’s ability to participate in society, we lay the groundwork for further rights erosion, for further dehumanization of minorities, for further government encroachment on the private lives, rights and freedoms of the people.
You should care because this is about you, too.
These are not normal times. This moment demands an extraordinary response.
The trans community’s continued freedom is at stake. We cannot pretend this is just a blip - a moment of backlash before we get back on track. This is a tidal shift - an historic moment. Each and every one of us must decide: are we going to watch on the sidelines, or get in the game? We need every advocate, every ally, every citizen, to tap into this struggle with us. Or we will lose. And you will lose too.
My calls to action:
To allies, I ask simply: support our advocacy. Whether through a donation, by volunteering, or simply by speaking with your neighbours to help them understand what’s going on - we need your help now more than ever. Here are some ways you can help:
Uplift your local trans advocates: Boost their social media posts. Bring them into your workplaces and community organizations. Invest in them, because their growth and continued leadership is critical to our movement’s success. They are tired, scared and overwhelmed - and they need to know they aren’t alone.
Support our organizations: Both the front-line organizations that provide community and social services to trans people, and the advocacy organizations mobilizing to uphold our rights, are critically under-resourced. Our opposition has more money than we do. Without a well-resourced movement, we won’t build the power or have the reach needed to halt regression and advance equality.
Speak with your neighbours: Everyday conversations are pivotal to our success. We won’t win with hot takes on Instagram. We will win by changing hearts and minds, inoculating our neighbours against the hate and misinformation, and inviting them to join us in building a more free, equal and just Canada - for everyone.
Write your elected officials: Politicians don’t listen to national advocates - they listen to local voices. Every time you write, call, or meet with your MLA, your MP or your city councillor, and tell them about your support for trans and LGBTQIA+ rights, you help them understand what’s going on. That’s power - and a power we need to lean into right now. Become a thorn in their sides, a bug in their ears.
I began this blog by stating I feel powerless. I do, but I know I am not. You probably feel powerless too - but you aren’t. Together, we are unstoppable. Our opposition relies on a politic of anger and hate. We can choose love and hope instead. When all of this began, I was worried no one would care - that no one would speak out for trans people. I was wrong. It didn’t happen overnight, but in the last 2 years, I’ve seen our allies tap in. Because they care about us, and they understand the broader threat we’re facing. We are not alone, and we are far from powerless.
We’ve always been out-resourced. We’ve always been the underdog. And yet we’ve won, time and time again. We will win again, because our vision for the future is beautiful. It is free, it is equal, and it is a better world - for queer and trans people, for everyone. Together, we will win.