Transgender Rights are Human Rights
Let’s all work toward ending gender oppression. The momentum toward true equality is palpable. The 2017 Vancouver Trans March welcomes all transgender, two-spirit, gender-fluid friends, cisgender friends, and allies to participate.
With recent developments in the US regarding transgender people being allowed to serve in the military, and other LGBTQ2+ erasure attempts, the importance of standing up for transgender rights, in the end, will be for all people and humanity. Those born in the future will benefit from this generation standing up, and there have been many who have stood, and they are brave. There has always been transgender people, and it took until the 21st century to gain visibility in only a small part of the world.
On Monday, July 31 st , 2017, the Pride flag and the Transgender Pride flag were raised at Vancouver city hall as Pride Week in Vancouver was proclaimed in Jim Deva Plaza. The flags at city hall are 12 feet by 24 feet in size, so you can’t miss them.
The raising of the Transgender Pride flag is no doubt an emotional moment for many, as was the raising of the flag in Canada’s capital during Pride Month. On June 15, 2017, an Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code ( Bill C – 16 , 2016) was passed by the Canadian Parliament. It was introduced in the Parliament of Canada on May 17, 2016 by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Recently, Vancouver Police adopted new rules on how transgender people will be processed in regards to custody, searches, and how transgender people will be transported. The new rules are a welcome advance for the transgender community.
When, Where to March
Gather at Clark Park , E 14 th Ave and Commercial, Friday, August 4th, 2017 5:30 PM. The weather forecast calls for an extremely hot day, so take precautions and hydrate.
People are encouraged to bring signs or make a new ones with some supplies that will be on-hand. No Corporate signs allowed. Wear what you want and feel free to be fabulous! (scent free please)
5:45 PM – Land Recognition & Welcome. Those with mobility aids, scooters, wheelchairs, children, and those who move at a slower pace can move up front to set the pace for the march.
6:00 PM – The March will move north on Commercial Drive, turn east on Grant Street and end at Victoria Park where speeches and performances by community members will take place.
Link: Vancouver Trans March Facebook Event Page
The march operates in a spirit of inclusion and solidarity with two-spirit people who may or may not also claim identities such as trans and gender-queer.
Since 1998, trans, gender-queer and two-spirit people in Vancouver have marched before Pride weekend as a political protest and celebration of gender diversity.
Organized by a gender-diverse grassroots collective of volunteers, the 2017 Trans, Two Spirit, Gender-queer, Intersex March is an opportunity for trans and gender-queer people to be celebrated through an assembly of people in joy and solidarity in order to loudly and proudly express their pride!
