When Karah Mathiason started planning Toronto’s first-ever Trans Pride March, she thought it might attract 10 people. The next thing she knew, she had more than 300 RSVPs on the event’s Facebook page.
“I was thinking of a quiet little march but it just grew,” says the 35-year-old graphic designer, who is organizing the Friday night event with her wife Diane Grant, 52, who, like Mathiason, is a trans-lesbian (both were born male).
Trans people have taken part in the Sunday Parade and the Saturday Dyke March since Pride Toronto’s early days, but, with their numbers dwarfed by their gay and lesbian peers, they’ve been mostly relegated to the sidelines. An official Pride event, with city permits and an after-party, is a major, brave step.
“It’s long overdue that we get our own march,” says Monica Forester, an outreach worker at the 519 Church Street Community Centre, who came out as trans 20 years ago and defines herself as transsexual. “Transpeople have always lived in the shadows and most people haven’t taken an interest in our community. This is a chance for us to increase our visibility and show how much diversity there is.”
“Trans” is an umbrella term that includes transsexuals, who might take hormones or undergo surgery to change their body to match the gender they identify with, as well as transgendered people, who tend to be more fluid in their perception of gender, seeing it as a continuum between male and female.
The transgendered lifestyle has become more common among younger transpeople. Grant, for example, transitioned back in the late 1970s and had sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in 1983. Although her coworkers know she’s in a relationship with a woman, she hasn’t come out as trans to them.
More open about being trans, Mathiason has modelled for posters and performed in trans-themed performances. She lives her life as a woman in her appearance and sensibility, but has been in transition for about 10 years and only recently started to consider SRS options.
She arrived in Toronto from her home province of Saskatchewan in 1999, the year after the Ontario government delisted the procedure, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. Ontario reinstated SRS coverage last spring.
“It feels the only option for getting my SRS is through the funding, since it’s very hard to pay for it myself,” says Mathiason.
Even with access to SRS and, in major centres, better health-care, transpeople often face more discrimination than gay and lesbian people – sometimes even from gays and lesbians, who see trans issues, with their focus on surgery and gender variance, as different than their own.
“People spat on us while we were holding hands, even on Church St.,” says Grant. “To be outside walking around is like living in a minefield. When you’re not being harassed, you’re looking out for it.”
That’s why the trans march, no matter how many people participate, is so important for Mathiason.
“I really want to create a safe place where everybody’s welcome to be who they are,” she says. “I love Pride. I just wish we could have a Pride attitude 365 days a year.”
Participants are asked to meet at Bloor and Church Sts. at 7 p.m. on June 26 for the 8 p.m. march to Church and Wellesley. Trans people and supporters are welcome. Search “Trans Pride March” on Facebook.com for more information.
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