HELLO!

Today I participated in a 90-minute webinar titled, Actionable Allyship. This was our guide at the outset. prideHealth works to create spaces that are supportive, where everyone feels comfortable to share their experiences without fearing discrimination or judgement.

Here are some stats of note: Halifax has the second highest percentage of persons who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ of all Canadian cities and Nova Scotia has the highest percentage of persons who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ of all Canadian provinces. Transition is not about “becoming” it’s more about “alignment”. Only 1% of persons who transition ever “de-transition”.

Often when we think of allyship we imagine standing up for others if someone is offended or hurt, but what if we defined it as working together to bring joy and life to all people? It’s a “also/and” not an “either/or”, meaning as an ally I am called to stand with those who are being mistreated, correct misinformation, be humble, admit what I do not know, and seek better information. But celebrating our diverse population is also a part of allyship, in the same way we celebrate our rich diverse population in many traditional populations, we also want to do likewise with our 2SLGBTQIA+ populations. Allys can all do better.

One important part of our conversation was to correct misinformation. We learned: Only persons over 18 years of age can access gender affirming surgeries. There are some rare exceptions for persons who are 16, but there are many layers of consent that accompany those surgeries.

We discussed terms, language. In the case of our child, they were given the name Lucy and referred to as daughter when we met them in 2001. But recently Lucian identifies as “non-binary”, which is defined as: a person whose gender identity does not fit strictly within the traditional, binary categories of solely "man" or "woman". Non-binary people feel their gender is a mix of both, somewhere in between, or entirely outside the gender binary. Kim and I refer to Lucian as “they” and our “child”.

I learned a lot in these 90 minutes, and I know there is much more to learn. If you have questions, I would be happy to explore them with you.

Peace, Kevin