March 31st marks Transgender Day of Visibility, a day dedicated to honouring transgender people and raising awareness of the discrimination the community faces. Given the rise of transphobia both in Canada and the United States, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some resources that may be helpful to your libraries and your patrons.
Combating Transphobia in Schools
This free online handbook is created by the group Lawyers Against Transphobia, a collective of lawyers and justice workers across BC and Canada committed to addressing transphobia and upholding the rights of transgender people. The handbook aims to support school boards, staff, and students in combatting transphobia in schools.
Although the publication is geared toward the educational setting, it contains information helpful to libraries dealing with similar problems, including information on harmful speech, harassment, and discrimination; what legislation such as the proposed Online Harms Act, the BC Human Rights Code, and the Criminal Code say about hate speech and online speech; and the implications a recent defamation case, Hansman v Neufeld 2023 SCC 14, has for transphobic speech.
This project aims to provide accurate and accessible human rights information to promote the safety and well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people in BC. The resource includes information on important legal cases, legislation, and rights when it comes to housing, employment, parenting, and more. Pages on rights include links to legislation and/or important cases, tips people can use to assert their rights, referrals to seek help, and a downloadable PDF fact sheet which can be printed.
This resource produced by the Provincial Health Services Authority supports gender-affirming healthcare in BC by connecting people with information, education, training, and support. Their online guide contains information on a variety of health issues and includes a Guide to Changing ID to help people legally change their names and gender markers on BC and federal government IDs. They also include a list of agencies for those seeking a notary, lawyer, or legal advice.