Top Issues

We asked individuals to tell us

  • The most significant issues that need to be addressed to improve the lives of gender minorities in New Brunswick as a group.
  • The most significant problems they have faced in their own lives as gender minorities in New Brunswick in the past 12 months.
Four top issues emerged.
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Education, Awareness and Acceptance

(A top issue for improving the lives of gender minorities as a group and in individual’s own lives in the past 12 months.)

Of all respondents
40%identified education, awareness and acceptance in relation to gender diversity as a significant issue for improving their own lives and the lives of gender minorities in New Brunswick as a group
Of the 40% above
  • 30%talked about challenges in navigating systems and accessing information and services, including information about navigating gender transitioning
  • 29%discussed lack of public education and awareness about gender identity and gender diversity
  • 26%named stigma, isolation, and lack of acceptance related to lack of education and awareness
  • 15%brought up the need for availability of gender neutral / gender friendly spaces, including gender neutral washrooms

Here are stories participants shared regarding education, awareness and acceptance in their own lives:

I receive constant reports of trans people being deliberately misgendered in school, bullied by other students while staff look the other way, taught inaccurate information about the LGBTQ+ community (or not taught anything at all even though it is a required part of the curriculum), being told they cannot use facilities appropriate for their gender, and, finally, dropping out because they cannot handle this harmful environment.

Being non-binary involves a certain level of misunderstanding from people around me, my family, my friends…. I feel like I always have to validate my identity, always have to prove my identity is valid and that I’m not just mixed up or in a phase. I also feel that I have to come out all the time as people always seem so happy when I present in a more feminine manner and I have to constantly chose between living my life and breaking the heart of my family constantly. *

I was trying to get my NB IDs and immigration forms updated to reflect my gender identity... I spent hours on trying to understand the system, and… found out that I'm not allowed to change anything on any of my NB IDs (driving license, medicare, etc) due to my immigration status. Since my (backwards) country of origin doesn't allow it, the government here won't either. While they can override it once I get permanent residency, it will take a while before I get it and then apply to update my IDs… Meanwhile as I travel down this scenic route to update my information, my IDs cause unnecessary confusion and worse, leave me vulnerable to bigotry and harassment.

What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
"

  • Educate school administrators, teachers, medical staff, mental health professionals, or anyone in a helping professions so that trans people are not left educating those who are supposed to be qualified to help them. Anywhere in NB right now where you appear visibly not cis, you are in danger and at risk. Whether you are trying to access social services, government services, in school, doing your grocery, getting a coffee, finding a family doctor, getting a prescription. No one seems to know how to talk or interact with you.

  • Make trans and queer education MANDATORY for every school (K to 12), university, college, private and non-profit work places, government. Every. where. It is so exhausting to continually live micro and macro aggressions everywhere.

  • Acceptance. Being able to be out without fearing violence, poverty, differential treatment at work/school, accessing health care from competent, knowledgeable and affirmative individuals. Respect and dignity for all men and women of trans experience. Visibility, community. not having to gather in a few safe spaces, but beeing able to be seen, heard, and accepted.

  • My experience is that when someone actually meets a trans person, sees the actual stats about trans discrimination in Canada, and are able to ask questions in a non-threatening environment their minds are very quickly changed about what it means to be trans and who trans people really are.

What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
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  • We have been the last province on almost every trans-related initiative, and despite detailed information from the trans community and decades of precedents set in other provinces, our current policies are encountering the same roadblocks that the rest of Canada has already surpassed… Information about accessing gender-confirming surgery or identification documents is difficult to access (I continue to explain these processes on a weekly basis to trans people and their families), and information about human rights protections is also very minimal, so trans people are often not aware that the discrimination they face in employment, housing, education, etc. is illegal.

  • SNB needs to have an easy, accessible, online checklist that assists trans people who wish to change their gender markers or who wish to access gender confirming surgeries. The onus should not be on trans people to assist each other in this process.

  • … Gender marker change without surgery is legal but I cannot access it due to it taking forever to get forms. Legal name change is expensive & loads of us have little to no income.

Health care

(A top issue for improving the lives of gender minorities as a group and in individual’s own lives in the past 12 months.)

34% of all participants identified healthcare as a top issue for improving the lives of gender minorities as a group and in their own lives in the past 12 months.

In discussing health as a top issue, two main sub issues emerged:

  • accessing health supports and services (including mental health services)
  • coverage for medical transition.
Issues related to healthcare (including but not limited to trans-specific healthcare) were the most common responses on what one thing could make the lives of individuals belonging to gender minorities as a group easier and what could make participants’ own lives easier.

74% of participants who identified healthcare as a top issue talked specifically about accessing trans-specific healthcare.

Here are stories participants shared about health care in their own lives:

First off, it wasn’t for Clinic 554 I would have probably killed myself. It’s no secret that few people know how to prescribe hormones even though its basic medicine… And then the wait for hormones is so long…. So I’m in a vicious circle: ask for help -- no one understands/believes you - depression, discouraged we don’t know if you’re capable of making a decision because you’re depressed - asking for help… no one understands, no one wants to take a chance by listening/offering support. *

Health care is very difficult for me. I wish I had a place to put my pronouns and preferred name on my health sheet to avoid feeling misgendered and more discouraged about myself. I hate it when I talk about my mental illnesses with councillors on campus and they blame it on my gender identity rather than the root of the problem. Doctors don't know what to do with me. Sometimes I feel like an animal in triage - like I genuinely don't belong there or that I'm gross.

Last year, I was unemployed for medical reasons that would be alleviated by getting top surgery - a surgery that is supposed to be covered in New Brunswick. Prior to gender-confirming surgeries being covered in New Brunswick, I qualified for a breast reduction due to hypermastia, but the surgeon I dealt with was very reluctant to go through with this surgery because it wasn't my real end-goal. I suffer from chronic pain, have mild scoliosis, and have developed costochondritis as a result of binding for over 10 years.

What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
"

  • ...better-educated healthcare practitioners. Simple, convenient access to doctors guiding individuals in their transitions, ex: healthcare practitioners who have authority to prescribe HRT (hormone replacement therapy) to transgender or genderqueer patients wishing to transition. Support, mental and physical health care services, access to therapies and what are considered non-essential treatments for me to live as a woman on a day to day basis

  • More resources towards getting those who wish to transition the help they need, and having every doctor in the province educated on transgender/non binary people.

What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
"

  • There is also the medical gatekeeping that occurs, health professionals who claim to know what is truly best for transgender people and limiting their access to gender affirming procedures are a result. While the current government has done strides in improving access to gender affirming medical procedures, improvements could be made. For example, offering breast augmentation surgeries to transwoman who have not experienced significant breast development after 1-year of HRT.

  • Surgeries should be improved coverage wise. Like not all of us can afford the 2000 + dollars for lipo involved in top surgery. Public Mental health overall have been very uneducated and some of them even Transphobic when I've dealt with them.

Economic Security and Employment

(A top issue for improving the lives of gender minorities as a group.)

Of non-student participants who had full-time job or multiple jobs totaling over 35 hours, 53% indicated having a personal income of $30,000 or less.

Here are stories participants shared regarding economic security and employment in their own lives:

I have witnessed dozens of trans people get disowned from their families after coming out and end up homeless. I have also witnessed many trans people get fired from careers that they had established over decades after coming out and then mysteriously be unable to find another job despite having appropriate credentials.

While I successfully got hired after transitioning, I had to "stealth" and have spent the past 2 years working in a workplace where I feel I cannot tell the truth to coworkers, and due to high levels of interaction with the public, presenting as anything other than "cis male" (which i am not!) is terrifying and could invite either harm to myself or result in losing my job (I have not been told this explicitly, but we must appear "professional" which excludes "visibly trans"). I bind for frankly unsafe and unhealthy lengths of time, to the point of hurting my ribs enough I could not bind for over a week - and this is with one of the best binders on the market.

I fear that because of the rising cost of everything that I may never be able to completely transition and live. I have to choose between surviving or becoming the person I am.

What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
"

  • Honestly. Life coaching. Transitioning or belonging to a gender minority is a lot easier if your life is on track. Having a place to live, a job and stability to support yourself. Then you can afford hormones and clothes and surgery and your own place to be whoever you want to be. (I realize this is less possible for teens) Even though it's extremely hard. Really really hard. You may have to worry about your stability first in order to make everything easier later.

  • ... even just educating business owners and job-site managers on being more open to hiring these people would make my day. If I'm applying for a job, my sex shouldn’t really be something they need to know if I'm good at the job, right?

  • I would make employers aware of the legal requirements regarding gender diverse employees, and make employees aware of their rights.

  • Gender minorities actively involved in decision making processes that effect them WITH PAY.

What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
"

  • I don't want to change the sex on my birth certificate because biologically I am still that, medically it matters, socially this is just irrelevant shit which puts me at risk depending how I look that day. Any interaction with the gov does not let me do this and makes it a huge issue, and I really don't have the money to waste my time getting my name changed and then getting all new IDs while I'm in the middle of buying a house, going to school, trying to get a job (esp, despite the fact it would make job hunting easier).

  • Name changes are a horrible process and super stressful. Getting work places to respect your name and pronouns. Acknowledging and accomodating that finding work is more difficult.

Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity

(A top issue in individuals' lives in the last 12 months.)

When asked if they’d experienced transphobia and/or homophobia or were treated differently because of belonging to a gender minority in the past 12 months, 71% of participants who responded to the question said yes.

Here are the stories gender minorities shared regarding discrimination issues in their own lives:

I love my french community and culture, but I miss the political and socially aware spaces in Toronto. I need spaces where queer and trans people are celebrated, honored and centered. Not seen as a risk or a 'thing' to be more '''politically correct'''. I feel very lonely here, and I have a hard time finding a sense to why I returned and am invested in being here. Like most places, the community I live in is super transphobic and queerphobic. Particularly because this place is very small, I am known as the weirdo that brings queer issues to the table over and over, without relenting, because my survival at my job depends on it. People vandalize the work I do, post hateful things online, tell people I am a pedophile and an abuser because I am LGBTQ.

I've experienced personal attacks by simply walking down main st., disgusted stares, derogatory comments, suggestions of suicide, etc.

I consistently receive direct comments about how my gender identity means I am mentally ill, and my identity is often used to discredit anything I say in a public forum, particularly online. I also regularly overhear these kinds of comments from people who do not know I am trans.

What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
What is one thing participants would change to improve the situation?
"

  • I would want to ensure that we all feel loved - by our friends, our families, and our community. It sounds dumb, but genuine and invested care for those who are struggling can make a difference. It could be an increase in services, one less question that invades my privacy, or even those in leadership positions being upfront with their support for us.

  • I believe that people fear what they dont know. Coworkers and friends usually are accepting after they see that besides your gender identity you are actually a pretty average person.

What participants said government doesn’t understand about this issue in New Brunswick:
"

  • The government misunderstands how bright we are and how MANY of us there are! The LGBTQ community is gigantic here, and they're missing a huge chunk of voters when they exclude them from policies and rhetoric. We shouldn't always be an afterthought or have a trophy event once a year - we deserve to be included in society.

  • Just from my personal experience and those of my friends, I think most of us care more about safety, security, and access to services than we do visibility, representation and symbolic gestures.

* This quote was submitted in French and has been translated.