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There’s now a crowd-sourced map that documents transphobic harassment encountered in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. You can access the map through this link. If you’d like to share your experiences of transphobia for this, please reach out to me. The more the better.

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This is intended as an advocacy tool. It’s been my experience that cis people are often surprised at hearing experiences of transphobia, and believe it’s one-offs by a few bad actors. In reality, it’s pervasive and a reflection of deeply held beliefs around gender norms that people feel compelled to police.

Use this tool as best you see fit. Be conscientious of any identifying information you share about yourself when contributing, as this is publicly accessible.

Update

A nice video was made about this project by journalism students Hannah Rivkin, Kayla Holmes and Kevin O’Rourke McColl:

Preface

I debated whether to write this article at all.

For the last ten years I’ve been countering the excuses that have been made to exclude gender and sexual minorities from participation in society. From the ban on Gay/Straight Alliances in Catholic schools (excuse: contravenes Catholic teachings and values), to the successful efforts to kill anti-discrimination legislation for trans and non-binary people (excuse: would enable sexual predators), to the removal of LGBTQ-inclusive sex-ed (excuse: parents weren’t sufficiently consulted), to the intimidation at Pride events by white Christian nationalists (excuse: white Christians are under attack). It’s always the same: people who aren’t excluded on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation arguing that others should be.

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