Author: Maëlys McArdle

There was another anti-trans protest in Ottawa this week. It was organized by a group whose foundational beliefs are labeled trans-exclusive radical feminism (TERFs) or “gender critical”, depending who is doing the naming.

This follows an incident a week ago where a man from Vancouver who makes a living crowd-funding anti-trans actions and is affiliated with TERF groups showed up at an elementary school in Ottawa with transphobic signs and was filming children. Meanwhile, over the past two weeks, the Quebec government has introduced a law that would require trans people to be sterilized to update identity documents, the Toronto Star released a piece decrying trans-inclusive language, the CBC published another portraying inclusion of trans people as a danger to cis women, and CTV aired a piece from their investigative show W5 that tried to stir a moral panic over care for gender diverse youth, uncritically parroting disinformation from UK TERF organizations. The CTV production was reminiscent of the documentary on the same topic that the CBC had sourced from the BBC a few years ago which centred the views of a conversion therapy clinic operator.

I’ve written about this new wave of anti-trans organizations before. Whatever moniker used to identify them, their behaviour is near identical to anti-gay evangelicals of yore.

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If anyone ever wanted to study attitudes on gender nonconformity in Canada during in this period in history, I’d point them to opinion writer Barbara Kay. Her prominence is fading now that newspapers and books are losing ground to competing forms of entertainment, but not too long ago she was one of the few authoritative voices Canadians might hear discuss gay or trans issues.

What she had to say was not particularly kind. She beckoned readers to purge society of these people using a litany of ever changing pretences. Now her latest diatribes are aimed at trans women. The story here though isn’t about her. It’s about the chain of people required to publish these dog whistles: folks who consider themselves supportive of diversity working for companies that claim to be inclusive of “LGBT” people, all the while making money by advocating for their eradication.

I believe these enablers and the apparent contradiction of their actions with their beliefs has more to tell us than the enmity of a single person. After all, it’s inevitable for cruel people to exist, but for others to monetize this antisocial behaviour is not. Nonetheless we can’t talk about that and the very real harm it causes without first talking about her.

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The makeup of trans and non-binary people is rapidly changing.

In 2019, the median income of trans and non-binary Ontarians was approximately $30,000. While that’s still significantly short of the $50,000 that the median over 16 made in the province, it is double the 2009 figure of $15,000.

We are living in a special moment; the trans analogue of Pride’s inflection point where it went from amplifying the vilified in the 1970s to throwing change-makers under the bus as to comfort small politicians and large corporate donors. Turning away from those with the least security to centre those with the most is easy when it’s just the latter in the room, but nothing kills imagination more than doing just that.

So, do you dare to dream?

It’s a tall order. In this climate, security is accorded to those who are deemed most respectable, the ones who are closest to fit into existing social norms. It values the software developer over the sex worker; the cis-passing trans man over the trans woman with a beard. Those let into the club are further predisposed towards assimilation as the more one has, the more there is to lose by ruffling feathers. So the very security that is had by liberating ourselves from puritanical values also incentivizes us to pretend like they’re perfectly fine.

It doesn’t have to be like that.

Dare to dream.

On September 22nd, I’ll be participating in a panel called Safe(r) cities for trans folks. From the description:

Trans, gender diverse and 2SLGBTQ+ communities are subjected to experience significant violence in Ottawa and across Canada. Despite progress on 2SLGBTQ+ rights, the everyday realities of many in our communities are largely unchanged.

What role can our municipalities play in helping to prevent, challenge and address anti-trans violence?

Certainly I have my fair share of stories of harassment in Ottawa. As do all of my gender diverse acquaintances.

There is no simple remedy. However, here are some ideas to marginally improve conditions.

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Trans and non-binary people are the latest targets for those struggling with the visibility of the world’s beautiful diversity. Seeking a return to the homogeneity that only lived in the precipices of their ignorance, they’ve singled out gender diverse individuals as the wedge issue that will bring them back.

I’ve been documenting transphobia for a decade, and one thing that’s notable in that time is the shift from implicit exclusion and ad-hoc incidents to mainstream organized movements demanding explicit exclusion. Yet also evident in that time is the extent to which trans and non-binary individuals have blossomed. Here’s some positive changes of the past ten years.

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