Special collaboration: Alex Simon is an American-born and Montreal-based student interested in LGBTQ+ and trans realities. They themselves being non-binary, they proposed the idea to GrS Montreal of writing articles on their blog TransAvenue.

Don Lemon is CNN News anchor and journalist. He came out as gay in his 2011 memoir Transparent, becoming a role model for gay black men getting into the journalism industry.

Raven-Symoné is an actress and singer known for her roles in the shows The Cosby Show and That’s So Raven as well as movies like The Cheetah Girls. She came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the mid 2010’s but states she does not subscribe to particular labels.

Frank Ocean is a singer, songwriter, and rapper known for an alternative R&B style. He published a letter on his Tumblr blog in 2012 expressing his feelings towards another man. He published an essay in 2016 following the Pulse Nightclub shooting, showing his frustration and explaining how in many cases hate perpetuated towards others is passed on from generation to generation.

Angel Haze is an agender and pansexual rapper. She uses he and she pronouns, and in a Buzzfeed interview in 2015, he stated “I don’t consider myself of any sex. I consider myself an experience.” He often writes and sings about diverse topics including homophobia, racism and mental health.

Audre Lorde was an author, feminist and civil rights activist. She is known for her writings with an intersectional lens. Her poetry often related to civil rights movements, disability, her lesbian identity and her identity as a Black woman. She also addressed topics like toxic black male masculinity and socio-economic status. Her writings contributed to what is known as the third-wave feminist discourse.

Tracy Chapman is an American singer known for hits like Fast Car and Baby Can I Hold You. She has won four Grammy awards and her discography spans over two decades. She rarely speaks of her sexual orientation but was in a relationship with her former partner Alice Walker during the 1990’s. Active on the social and political stages, she often performs at charity events.

James Baldwin was an author, playwright, poet and civil rights activist. His literary career spanned from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. His social and political activism was omnipresent not only in his day to day life, but in the form of topics featured in his works and their respective protagonists. Two of his manuscripts, Remember This House and If Beale Street Could Talk were transformed into documentary I Am Not Your Negro (2016) and film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).

Janet Mock is a writer, TV host and transgender rights activist. After obtaining her Masters degree in journalism, she worked several years at People magazine as staff editor. She came out as a trans woman in 2011 in Marie Claire magazine, then becoming a media advocate. She has written several memoirs, and has become the first trans woman of color to obtain a production deal with a major content company, in her case Netflix.

Laverne Cox is an actress and LGBTQ+ advocate. She rose to stardom in her role on Netflix series Orange is the New Black, subsequently becoming the first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy for her role. She also starred and was the executive producer of the documentary Disclosure, which addresses the representation and depiction of trans and nonbinary individuals in American culture and media.

Janelle Monáe is a singer-songwriter and actress. She released three studio albums in 2010, 2013 and 2018, and ventured into acting in 2016 in the hit movie Hidden Figures. She identifies simultaneously as bisexual and pansexual, and came out as nonbinary in 2020.

Amandla Stenberg is an actress and singer. Her breakout role in film was in the movie Hunger Games, and has had numerous appearances in cinema, TV and music videos. They use both she/her and they/them pronouns, and identifies as gay and nonbinary.

Lil Nas X is a rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was catapulted into the spotlight with his country rap hit Old Town Road. He came out as gay following the release of the song, and became the first Black LGBTQ+ artist to win a Country Music Association Award.

Angela Davis is a political activist and academic. She is a part of the grassroots movement against the “prison-industrial complex”, a prison abolition movement. For over five decades she has supported numerous social justice movements such as gay rights, Black liberation and Palestinian solidarity and against racism and sexism. Alongside activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, she founded the African American Alliance 2000, a group of Black feminists. She identifies as lesbian and lives with her life partner.

Marsha P. Johnson was a gay liberation activist and Stonewall Riot veteran. Alongside Sylvia Rivera, she founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) organization and was an AIDS activist. She was unfortunately found dead in 1992, her cause of death unofficially considered a homicide.

Backxwash is a Zambian-Canadian rapper based in Montreal. She came out as transgender in 2018 after the release of her debut EP F.R.E.A.K.S. Her 2020 album God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It won the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.

Munroe Bergdorf is a British model and activist. Coming out as transgender at the age of 24, she began her modelling career with the motivation of bringing diversity to the industry. She frequently makes guest appearances as commentator on British talk shows, and is vocal about numerous causes including racism, transphobia and misogyny.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is an activist and community leader. She advocates notably for incarcerated trans women of color, serving as the original executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project. Other community efforts she was and continues to be involved in include helping those suffering from addiction and homelessness, sex workers, those with HIV/AIDS, low-income individuals and victims of police brutality.

Elle Hearns is a transgender rights activist who co-founded the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Her interest in the civil rights movement and activists like Malcolm X led her to become a youth organizer. She helped organize the three-day conference The Movement for Black Lives in 2015, and founded the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.

Indya Moore is an actor and model known for their role in the series Pose. They started their modeling career at the age of 15 with gigs including Dior and Gucci. They are nonbinary, and are the first trans person to be featured on the cover of the US edition of Elle magazine.

Monica Roberts was a writer and trans rights advocate. She was the founder and main editor of blog TransGriot, which brought attention to issues pertaining to trans women. She also brought news coverage of transgender homicide victims in the US to a wider audience.

Angelica Ross is a businesswoman, actress, and transgender rights activist. She is the CEO and founder of tech company TransTech Social Enterprises, and stars in the shows Pose and American Horror Story.

Travis Alabanza is a British transfeminine performance artist. They have given lectures and presented at panels on topics from racism, sexual orientation and gender identity. They advocate for the inclusion of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals in mainstream feminism.

Willow Smith is a singer and actress with several albums under her belt. Her single Whip My Hair hit platinum in 2009 and has won several awards for her musical pursuits. She came out as bisexual and polyamorous in 2019.

Kehlani is a R&B and hip-hop singer. She supported Halsey and Demi Lovato on their tours, released two albums and was nominated for Grammy awards on several occasions. She came out as queer and pansexual on social media.

Billy Porter is a Broadway performer, actor and musician. He starred in the play Kinky Boots on Broadway both in 2013 and 2017, and plays a recurring role in the serie Pose. He also graces the cover of magazines and fashion articles with his colorful red carpet ensembles.

L’article Black and POC LGBT celebrities est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.

It is easy to forget that what led to parties and parades were, in fact, acts of resistance from marginalized people, trans people, and people of color. So we may never take the rights of LGBTQI+ community members for granted, let us remember the history of Pride and the events that led to these celebrations.

Fifty years ago, in the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided a New York tavern called the Stonewall Inn. It was a time when gay people were widely perceived as criminals or delinquents. This tavern – which did not have even a liquor license or running water – was a safe space where members of the LGBTQI+ community could meet and express themselves without being harassed. Back then, the police had the right to arrest and detain anyone who appeared to be a man in drag as well as anyone they perceived as a woman if they were wearing less than three items of so-called “feminine” clothing.

During this particular police intervention, which empowered police to identify and physically verify the gender of the 200 patrons gathered inside the tavern, one particular trans women and drag queen has had enough! Marsha P. Johnson – an African American trans woman who is widely recognized as an LGBTQI+ rights icon today – decides to purposefully throw her drink at a mirror. This gesture of protest sparks a revolt that will last several days and lead to the birth of the modern LGBTQI+ rights movement and the first Gay Pride march in the United States in 1970, organized by Brenda Howard. It was Ms. Howard’s idea to spread the activities over a week, a format still in use today.

In Canada, during the same era, the LGBTQI+ community rights movement began. In 1969, homosexuality was decriminalized and two years later the first gay rights demonstration took place in Toronto. Despite decriminalization, during the 1970s and 1980s, police raids were proliferating and became catalyst events for the liberation of members of the LGBTQI+ community. These events marked a turning point and brought about important cultural changes.

The repeated raids on public bathhouses – often frequented by gay men – radicalized the movement. In 1974, four people were arrested in a public bathhouse in New Brunswick. This was one of the first times the Canadian press picked up on the gay and lesbian factor. In 1975 and 1976, raids were a common thing in Montreal, under Mayor Jean Drapeau, who wanted to “clean up” the city before the 1976 Olympics. A year later, 146 people were arrested by 50 police officers in a bar called the Truxx in Montreal during a military-style operation. These “offenders” were even kept from contacting their lawyers. Then, in 1981, one of the largest mass arrests in Canadian history took place when 300 people were arrested in four public bathhouses in Toronto during the now famous “Operation Soap”. This police action at Truxx marked a turning point in Quebec and “Operation Soap” is considered the equivalent of the Stonewall revolt in Canada.

Despite numerous police raids across the country, the first Gay Pride Week was held in 1973 in several major Canadian cities. The program included an arts festival, a dance, a picnic, the screening of several documentary films, and a gay rights rally. This movement marks the emergence of the concepts of gay liberation and gay pride, formerly known as “gay power”.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the LGBTQI+ community called for the recognition of their rights during pride marches. They demanded legal changes that would revolutionize public perception and bring wider support to the cause. The first Lesbian Pride March took place in 1981.

By 1973, homosexuality was no longer considered an illness according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In 1977, following the Truxx bar raid, Quebec became the first province to include sexual orientation in its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Henceforth, it was illegal to discriminate against homosexuals in the workplace and in housing rights.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Canada accomplished a great deal in the application of gay rights. In 1992, the Federal Court allowed gay and lesbian people to join the military, and, the following year, the Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians could apply for refugee status if their home country persecuted them. Then, in 1995, same-sex couples could legally adopt children in Ontario, and sexual orientation was included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 2003, the Civil Marriage Act finally allowed same-sex couples to marry. In 2019, the World Health Organization removed transsexualism from the list of mental illnesses.  And, in 2020, the Liberals introduced Bill C-8, which aims to criminalize conversion therapy practices; Quebec also has tabled a similar bill with the same objective. Because of these changes and progress, Canada is now among the best countries in the world for gay rights although there is still a long way to go.

Gay Pride festivals around the world choose relevant themes and ambassadors that reflect their communities. Gay Pride is an annual reminder of the importance of continuing to defend the fundamental rights of LGBTQI+ people. The groundwork was laid by exceptional individuals who fought against systemic discrimination, police brutality, physical violence, and public perceptions. It is in their honour that Gay Pride is celebrated each year.

L’article LGBTQ+ Pride est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.

Special collaboration: Alex Simon is an American-born and Montreal-based student interested in LGBTQ+ and trans realities. They themselves being non-binary, they proposed the idea to GrS Montreal of writing articles on their blog TransAvenue.

Often when referring to orientations within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community, the suffix -sexual is used, for instance, homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual. The prefix used before -sexual distinguishes towards whom you are attracted to. However, what if you do not feel sexual attraction towards others? Or romantic attraction, for that matter? You are not broken or abnormal, you simply may belong to the asexual and/or aromantic spectrum.

Asexuality, as an umbrella term, refers to the lack of sexual attraction felt towards others. This is different from the libido, which pertains to the drive one might feel to act upon said sexual desires. It also differs from celibacy, in which a person chooses not to engage in sexual activity. Asexuality is a spectrum, it is not black or white, hence the existence of sub-categories within asexuality, labels that you may or may not feel more aligned with. People who are on the asexuality spectrum might call themselves “ace”.

Demisexuality is an orientation within the asexuality spectrum. It relates to how someone does not feel sexual attraction towards another person unless a strong emotional bond has already been formed. Graysexuality, sometimes called gray-ace, refers to the gray zone existing within asexuality. Seeming how each individual experiences asexuality in their own way, this term can encompass the gray zones existing within such a wide spectrum. Reciprosexual refers to someone who does not feel sexual attraction towards someone until the said person is attracted to them. Akoisexual, or lithsexual, refers to someone whose attraction towards another fades over time if the said attraction is to be reciprocated. Aceflux refers to someone whose sexual orientation fluctuates. For some, it may stay within the asexual spectrum. For others, it might occasionally venture outside of it.

There is a plethora of identities that fall within the asexual spectrum. These identities can also fall within the aromantic spectrum, meaning those who do not feel romantic attraction towards others. These people may call themselves “aro” for short. The identities listed above can apply to the aromantic spectrum by changing the suffix -sexual by the suffix -romantic. For instance, grayromantic individuals feel that their romantic attraction lies within the gray zones of the aromantic spectrum.

For some, their romantic attraction and sexual attraction are the same. For instance, you might be homoromantic and homosexual, meaning you are both romantically and sexually attracted to the same gender. However, they might differentiate, leading to the importance of distinguishing these two axes of attraction. In my case, I consider myself panromantic and graysexual. I am romantically attracted to others regardless of their gender identity, and my sexual attraction to others is situated within the gray zones of asexuality. This is referred to as the Split Attraction Model (SAM).

Those who consider themselves to be on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrum are a welcome part of the LGBTQ+ community because their sexual and/or romantic identities differ from that of a cisgender, heteroromantic and heterosexual individual.

Like other members of the LGBTQ+ community, asexual and aromantic people can face discrimination for their identities. Cultural and sexual norms might leave these communities out of the discussion, many people not even knowing what asexuality and aromanticism are. Some might see these identities as a consequence of sexual trauma, or the person having not yet “found the right person”. This contributes to gaslighting and invisibility of said individuals and their identities, which in turn can lead to feelings such as internalized shame.

In short, while they may be a lesser-known sub-community (at least for now) within the LGBTQ+ family, asexual and aromantic people are just as deserving of support from their social circles and medical practitioners. Both asexual and aromantic people within their respective continuums are capable of bonding with others, in their own unique way.

Alex Simon

L’article The asexual and aromantic spectrum est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.

This organization was founded in 2007 with the goal of connecting a network of healthcare providers willing to meet annually to discuss and advance trans health issues and research. CPATH is therefore interested in people who self-identify as trans, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, in transition, non-binary, queer, and men and women with transitional medical histories. For the remainder of this text, we will use the term trans to encompass the entire spectrum outlined above.

Trans people are increasingly visible in society. They represent between 0.5% and 1% of the Canadian population . Also, the number of people requiring transition-related care doubles every five or six years. Although great progress has been made over the years, access to satisfactory healthcare for trans people remains a challenge. Not all healthcare professionals are personally or professionally aware of the issues faced by trans people or the complexities of care.

An american study found that 19% of trans people have experienced a denial of care, 28% have experienced harassment in a medical setting, and 50% report that they have had to educate their doctors about trans care. CPATH works mainly to improve access to health services in a positive way, end stigma, contribute to the development of skills for professionals working with trans people, and generally disseminate information to broaden the inclusion of trans people.

In a two-year process, CPATH also worked towards generating ethical guidelines for research involving trans people and communities. These ethical guidelines list six overarching principles for trans research:

• Attentiveness to Issues of Legitimacy and Impact on Communities;
• Engagement with Communities;
• Consent and Confidentiality;
• Consideration of Diversity, Power, Marginalization and Representation;
• Accountability to Participants and Trans Communities;
• Reflexivity on the Part of Researchers and Research Teams.

These Ethical guidelines were developed by a team of trans people and professionals and are the result of workshops and consultations held at the CPATH conference in Halifax in 2015, at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) conference in Amsterdam in 2016, and at the Two Spirit and Queer People of Colour Call to Conversation with LGBT & Allies conference in Winnipeg in 2017.

L’article What is the CPATH? est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.

Special collaboration: Alex Simon is an American-born and Montreal-based student interested in LGBTQ+ and trans realities. They themselves being non-binary, they proposed the idea to GrS Montreal of writing articles on their blog TransAvenue.

In these uncertain times, LGBTQ+ youth can feel more isolated than ever. Resources for these marginalized individuals exist in and around the Montreal area, but sometimes are not necessarily known by their target audience. L’Asterisk, a safe space located in the Gay Village, is one of these resources. Located at 1575 Atateken Street in Montreal, the space is run by the Coalition of LGBTQ+ Youth Groups and is used by multiple organizations and charities catering to the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth. These organizations include Project 10, Jeunesse Lambda and Alterheros.

Project 10 is a multilingual resource run for and by LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 14 and 25 in the Montreal area. They host weekly hangouts for youth, active listening, and accompaniment services, as well as provide safer sex and injection materials. They collaborate with Jeunesse Lambda on acquiring gender affirming gear for trans and non-binary youth. They also host a camp for queer and trans youth during he summer with a variety of activities. Although in-person hangouts are cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to host weekly meetings online and hold listening services to those who need it.

Jeunesse Lambda is a bilingual resource run for and by LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 14 and 25 in the Montreal area. They host weekly hangouts for youth, active listening, and accompaniment services, as well as provide safer sex and injection materials. They collaborate with Project 10 on acquiring gender affirming gear for trans and non-binary youth. As do the other organizations in l’Asterisk, Jeunesse Lambda also facilitates kiosks at secondary and post-secondary institutions. During the pandemic, Jeunesse Lambda is not holding their weekly hangouts in person. However, they will continue providing food and entertainment for youth by offering a food delivery service on a weekly basis, as well as gift cards for grocery stores and/or entertainment subscriptions.

Alterheros is both an online and in-person resource directed towards neurodivergent LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 14 and 30 in the Montreal area. Their website offers the “Ask Us Your Question!” section, which allows anyone to anonymously inquire about subjects like coming out, gender identity, sexual health, and other available resources in the region. They also host weekly in-person hangouts for neurodivergent LGBTQ+ youth. Although they are no longer in-person during the health crisis, they are holding Zoom meetings weekly for youth to continue to socialize with each other.

Some services are shared by several of these organizations such as the gender gear program, the clothes donation area within the space, supporting the Jeunes Queer Youth program that gives access to funding and mentorship for youth projects, and educating the public through kiosks and workshops. While their services may not look the same for the time being, they continue to offer adapted services to the youth who need it, across the city, region, and province.

L’article What is l’Asterisk? est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.

Between 1871 and 1994, paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code made homosexuality punishable by imprisonment. It was between World War I and World War II more specifically, that Germany saw the rise of fascism that culminated in Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933. However, while this part of history is more readily known, less often is the parallel liberal movement that so exasperated the extreme right discussed. At that time in Europe, many doctors were beginning to explore the possibility that, medically, one cannot ignore what happens in the brain, that the mind is a valid source of information about the patient’s torments.

Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld was one of those pioneers; he dedicated his life to the humanization of homosexuals and was the first to use the term transsexuality. Throughout his life, through science, he worked to normalize, educate, and protect practices that were then considered abnormal or even disgusting. He collected the testimonies of the transgender people he met and worked actively for their social acceptance.

His experience in the army as a doctor on the front lines during the First World War gave him first-hand experience of the mistreatment of homosexual soldiers. He also had the opportunity to work with women who dressed as men so they could participate in combat. Himself Jewish and gay, he also received these people in his office and witnessed their suffering.

It was after he returned from the war, in 1919, that he created Berlin’s Institute for Sexual Science – the first institute of this type in the world. The institute was open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It offered group therapy, and information on sexually transmitted diseases (at the time, syphilis cognitively affects and kills those affected). Patients could sleep there if necessary or consult a well-stocked library. Taking advantage of the Institute’s prestige, he negotiated with the police to grant passes to those who were called transvestites in those days. He published several books and even participated in the production of the film Different from Others, in which he played himself interviewing homosexual soldiers.

Dr. Hirschfeld supervised Dr. Ludwig Levy-Lenz, who performed one of the first MTF surgeries on Lili Elbe. In 1933, the Institute was destroyed by the Nazis, the books burned, and the three doctors ended their lives in exile.

The history of sex reassignment surgery is a fascinating one. It begins with inspiring men and women who defy prejudice and twist the law to do what they believe is right. Early cases of MTF or FTM surgery can be difficult to trace as it often took place clandestinely and was sometimes covered up to protect the people involved. The history of sex change surgeons is the story of the liberation of morals.

L’article Dr Magnus Hirschfeld and his legacy est apparu en premier sur TransAvenue.