International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31)

The International Transgender Day of Visibility takes place annually on March 31. It is an opportunity to celebrate and empower the Trans community, while also bringing awareness to the barriers and ongoing discrimination Trans people face.

Transgender people often experience significant barriers to accessing essential healthcare services, including primary care, emergency care, and gender-affirming care (The Trans PULSE Canada Team, 2020), and these challenges are compounded for Trans individuals residing in rural areas (Scheim, Lopez, Bauer, Brasseur, Baptiste, Navarro, Smith, Blodgett, Churchill, Coleman, 2024). Additionally, both past and anticipated experiences of discrimination further limit Trans peoples’ access to necessary healthcare services (Scheim et al, 2024).

What is gender-affirming care?

Gender-affirming care is a range of services that provide life-saving healthcare for Trans individuals. This includes transition-related services and other medical care, mental health care, and social services.

How can healthcare workers start to provide more gender-affirming care?

  1. Learn. To learn more about the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, including the inequities and challenges they face when accessing healthcare, and how you can provide gender-affirming care, seek education opportunities!
    1. Rainbow Health Ontario’s 2SLGBTQ Foundations Course is a great place to start. Check out their website at: https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/
    1. To learn more about affirming and inclusive language on Egale Canada at: https://egale.ca/awareness/affirming-and-inclusive-language/
    1. To learn more about using pronouns, Egale Canada offers a Pronoun Usage Guide: https://egale.ca/awareness/pronoun-usage-guide/
    1. Egale Canada also offers tips on how to be an ally to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community: https://egale.ca/awareness/tips-on-how-to-practice-lgbtqi2s-allyship/
  2. Participate. Join the hospital’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee

To learn more about the International Transgender Day of Visibility, please go to Egale Canada at: https://egale.ca/egale-in-action/trans-day-of-visibility-2024/

To read the reports referenced in this article, you can check them out here:

  1. https://transpulsecanada.ca/results/report-1/
  2. https://transpulsecanada.ca/results/report-health-and-well-being-among-rural-and-small-town-trans-and-non-binary-people/