transgender Awareness
Transgender Awareness Week is from November 13- November 19, and is dedicated to increasing visibility and awareness of the transgender community. Sheridan Student Union and the Building Positive Spaces Committee invite you to learn more about trans and gender specific resources, books and workshops. On November 20, the Sheridan Community will observe Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual commemoration of lives lost that year to transphobic violence.
“Sheridan welcomes, celebrates and respects diverse peoples of all identities.”
A letter from Dr. Jane Ngobia, Vice President of Inclusive Communites at Sheridan.
We know at Sheridan that to foster a truly inclusive campus community where everyone feels safe, respected, welcome and celebrated, that we must continue to work together to make space for, amplify the voices of and support historically marginalized members of society.
On Sunday, November 20, Sheridan proudly raises the Transgender Flag at its campuses to demonstrate our commitment to stand up to transphobic acts such as bullying, along with a call to action to eliminate this form of oppression. November 20 is also a day to raise awareness of the threat to well-being that many trans and gender-diverse people continue to face daily. Statistics show this is an issue that demands our attention.
What can you do as part of our collective call to action on this day?
Learn more about Transgender Day of Remembrance
Be aware of the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on preventing discrimination and harassment based on gender identity or gender expression and the gender identity and gender expression brochure
Understand your rights and responsibilities under Sheridan’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures
Use inclusive language when speaking with or writing about trans and gender-diverse people, while being accurate and respectful
Above all, please know we can all make a positive difference. By being visible and speaking out against transphobia, we can effect change. For information about the Sheridan Building Positive Space Committee (BPSC) please contact equity@sheridancollege.ca
Yours in unity,
Jane Ngobia
Vice President, Inclusive Communities
OPSEU joins in remembering those who have died as a result of transphobia-related violence worldwide.
A message from OPSEU, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, in honour of Transgender Day of Remembrance.
OPSEU/SEFPO commemorates International Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which is observed annually on November 20 – the day that Rita Hester, a Black, trans woman, was murdered in 1998 at the age of 34. It is a day of remembrance for all trans people who have been killed, and a day of action to raise public awareness that hate crimes against trans and gender-diverse people continue today.
Through various reports collected by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Canadian Women’s Foundation, it is clear that violence disproportionately affects racialized trans women – particularly Black trans women – and that racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia all intersect to deny them employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities.
Rooted in white supremacy, colonialism and slavery, all institutions present barriers that are systemically racist toward Black communities who have been denied opportunities in every facet of life. The anti-trans stigma that exists within a heterosexual male-dominated world further prevents full participation for Black trans women. This leads to discrimination in employment, setbacks in education, exclusion from social services, barriers to legal identification, unequal policing and a lack of justice.
This International Trans Day of Remembrance, we ask you to understand your privilege – to recognize the ways that being cisgender allows you to access washrooms, health care, or services, with greater ease. We ask that you think about the entitlements you take for granted, and for which others must fight and protect.
On International Women’s Day 2023, hundreds of community organizations from across Canada signed a statement declaring that gender equality cannot be achieved without supporting, celebrating, and uplifting trans women. Sheridan Student Union was amongst many organizations who have called upon the Government of Canada to ensure that trans communities are included in the forthcoming National Action Plan to Combat Hate.
Good Reads
Writer and performer Ivan Coyote has spent decades on the road, telling stories around the world and along the way received from readers and audience members—letters, Facebook messages, emails, soggy handwritten notes after a gig. In Care Of, Coyote combines the most moving and powerful of these letters with the responses they've sent in the months since the lockdown.
One thing we can probably agree on is that people change. We change our haircuts and our outfits and our minds. People Change is a thought-provoking meditation on reinvention from an artist who has actively refused a single, static shape in both her career and in her personal life.
Ivan Coyote’s stories of what it means to be trans and non-binary today.
Kai Cheng Thom calls for healing and love in a difficult time.
Portrays the transphobic hate mail Shraya received and her responses to them.
A trans artist explores how masculinity was imposed on her as a boy and continues to haunt her as a girl--and how we might reimagine gender for the twenty-first century. Shraya delivers an important record of the cumulative damage caused by misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, releasing trauma from a body that has always refused to assimilate.
Alternately unsettling and affirming, devastating and delicious, The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You is a new collection of essays on gender and identity by S. Bear Bergman that is irrevocably honest and endlessly illuminating.
One in Every Crowd is for anyone who has ever felt different or alone in their struggle to be true to themselves. Funny, inspiring, and full of heart, One in Every Crowd is really for everyone; it's about embracing and celebrating difference and feeling comfortable in one's own skin, no matter what the circumstance.
What happens when your gender doesn't fit neatly into the categories of male or female? Nuanced storytellers break away from mainstream portrayals of gender diversity, cutting across lines of age, race, ethnicity, ability, class, religion, family, and relationships. They speak to everyone who has questioned gender or has paused to wonder, What does it mean to be a man or a woman—and why do we care so much?
Offers a welcoming place for transgender and gender-questioning people, their partners and families, students, professors, guidance counselors, and others to look for up-to-date information on transgender life.
Borrow Vivek Shraya books from the Sheridan library. Chat or e-mail with library staff for assistance.
Films To Watch
Get the Support You Need
Don't hesitate to reach out to the supports below if you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or just need someone to talk to.
“We all share responsibility for cultivating an equitable and inclusive community.”
Dr. Janet Morrison, Sheridan’s President and Vice Chancellor
-
Sheridan's Counselling Services
Support for Sheridan students when you are feeling overwhelmed, financially stressed, hungry, or just want to talk to someone. Email: askanadvisor@sheridancollege.ca -
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto
Call if you are in distress or in need of emotional support. Open 24/7 every day. Help is also available in many different languages. Call: 416-408-4357 (GTA) or 905-459-7777 (Peel region). -
Learn more about Good2Talk
Provides confidential support services for college students. Available 24/7 every day. Features an "escape button" if you're interrupted. Call: 1-866-925-5454 Text: GOOD2TALKON to 686868
-
Learn more about LGBT Youth Line
Offers confidential and non-judgemental peer support for LGBTTQQ2SI. Website offers an "escape button" if you are interrupted. Sunday to Friday from 4PM - 9:30 PM EST. Text: 647-694-4275. Chat. E-mail: askus@youthline.ca. -
Learn more about Trans Lifeline Hotline
Trans Lifeline's Hotline is a peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers. Operators are all trans-identified and available for crisis support or if you just need to talk. Hours: 10:00AM to 4:00AM in Ontario. Call: 877-330-6366. -
Learn more about Empower Me
Sheridan Student Union Health and Dental coverage includes Empower Me, which allows students to connect with qualified counsellors, consultants, and life coaches for a variety of issues. As a Sheridan student, you are entitled to sessions delivered in person, by telephone, by video-counselling, or by e-counselling. You can get support for issues of any kind, including relationships, family care, depression, anxiety, addictions, stress, work conflicts, and much more. Contact them at their toll free number, 1-844-741-6389 or visit the Empower Me Login page.
Further Learning
Students and members of the Building Positive Space Committee have compiled amazing resources and content for you!
changing your name AND GENDER
Here is a guide for how students, staff and faculty can change their name and/or gender at Sheridan College.
universal washrooms
At Sheridan, single-stall washrooms are available to people of all genders and sexes, to families, and to people needing privacy for a variety of reasons.
Transgender People
in Ontario
Statistics from the Trans PULSE Project to Inform Human Rights Policy.
Being Safe Being Me
Results of the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey
Your rights
You have the right to equal treatment without discrimination because of gender identity and/or expression when accessing services and goods.
Gender & Identity
Human Rights In Ontario’s Guide to Gender Identity and Expression and the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
2sLGBTQ+ studies
Resources available through the Sheridan Library or on the web to help you learn more about gender and sexuality.
CENTRE FOR EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Sheridan’s CEI has put together a list of 10 tips for being more inclusive about gender and sexuality.
Positive Space Network also shared their Adult Name Change Guide here. Take a look at Sheridan’s Centre of Equity and Inclusion Inclusive Language document for Trans and gender diverse people.
November 20 is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an international observance held each year on November 20 that honours the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. Sheridan stands together to honour those we’ve lost and recognize the community’s diversity and resilience in the face of harassment and oppression.
More Than Pronouns
From More Than Pronouns Presentation, Corrin Marier (he/they)
For many transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people, pronouns are not simply words, they are an affirmation that people see them exactly as they are.
If you missed the Inclusive Communities session delivered by Sheridan Social Service Worker graduate Corrin Marier, here are a few resources for you to understand the impact of pronouns and inclusive language surrounding gender and sexuality.
This discussion was a community conversation with students and employee members of the Sheridan Building Positive Space Committee and facilitated by Dr. Cherie Werhun.
We’ve saved the info in a helpful infographic and have made the full presentation available for you below.
Are you covering stories about trans and gender-diverse people?
Rainbow Health Ontario and The519 have put together a few more resources to help you understand and approach discussions about transgender and gender-diverse people.
Media Reference Guide - Download here.
Media Tip Sheet - Download here.
Connect with Community
Trans Lifeline’s Hotline
Trans Lifeline’s Hotline is a peer support phone service run by trans people for their trans and questioning peers. Call if you need someone trans to talk to, even if you’re not in crisis or if you’re not sure you’re trans. Visit: https://translifeline.org/ for more info.
Advocacy
Community Call to Action: Conversion Practices Legislation
Sheridan Student Union joined No Conversion Canada in the community call on all Parliamentarians to affirm the inherent dignity and human rights of all Canadians, including those from the 2SLGBTQI+ community, to live free from discrimination, prejudice, and harm.
We called on the 44th session of the Canadian Parliament to take immediate action to prohibit all forms of conversion “therapy” practices and sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression change efforts (collectively “conversion practices”).
On November 22, 2021, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-4 (An Act to Amend the Criminal Code - Conversion Therapy), which bans conversion practices across Canada.
Sheridan Student Union joined Trans Health Ontario support Private Members Bill 17, the Gender Affirming Healthcare Advisory Committee Act. If passed, the bill would mandate the Minister of Health to create an advisory committee to review the state of gender-affirming healthcare in Ontario, and identify recommendations for the Minister to improve coverage and access for trans and gender diverse Ontarians.
Looking Back
Sheridan is and always has been proud to support our 2SLGBTQ+ community! Here are a few of our recent events and initiatives:
In Honour of Transgender Awareness Week, we sat down with Vivek Shraya!
In honour of transgender awareness week, Vivek Shraya spoke to Sheridan about celebrating femininity, in herself, her mother, her religious up-bringing, and in pop culture, despite her early experiences of misogyny, sexism and homophobia. In addition to inspiring audience members to celebrate who they are, this presentation addresses the ways we are taught to think about gender, and the danger of not recognizing our complicity in the prevalence of misogyny and sexism.
This year, for the first time, the “Progress Pride” flag will be raised on all campuses to reflect the diversity and intersectionality of the 2SLGBTQ+ community here at Sheridan and in support of the need for progress still to be made among HIV-positive, trans and QPOC (queer, people of colour) communities.
The 2SLGBTQ+ Conversation Circle is a chance for Sheridan students and community members to come together for great conversation. This event is facilitated by Corrin Marier and focuses on the intersection between mental health, wellness and 2SLGBTQ+ identities.
Sheridan, in partnership with the City of Mississauga, unveiled a rainbow Pride Bench in Scholar’s Green outside of Sheridan’s Hazel McCallion Campus on June 16, 2021. Inscribed with the words, “Helping bring the LGBT+ community together,” the bench was donated to the city by the Pride Committee of Peel.
Sheridan College alumni from the LGBTQ+ community join the Sheridan Student Union for a networking event, panel discussion, and Q&A about being 2SLGBTQ+ in the workforce.
“I was in shock attending my first Transgender Day of Remembrance. I didn’t know the extent of the hate crimes against transgender people. First I was sad, then angry, and then I asked myself what I could do. Now, I observe this day by remembering, grieving, and honouring all those lost to anti-transgender violence, and by reminding myself that every day is an opportunity to keep learning how to be a better ally.”
“Remembrance for me is a reminder that there is still so much more we need to fight for and be aware of. We need to not look past our differences but learn from them. Challenge ourselves both as trans and cis people to re-educate ourselves and celebrate every facet of what it means to be trans and protect our trans siblings. That especially goes for our trans siblings of colour who face an extraordinarily bigger challenge. We will remember you,. We will fight for your honour and your true identity to be valued to not be forgotten. We will get better, we must. And let us hope that next year, there will be less loss and more understanding.”
“I stand in solidarity with the trans-community at Sheridan. I am here to listen with an open mind; the learning never stops as an ally. Sheridan is a better place when the members of our trans community can feel belonging, safety, and support.”
“When I stand in line waiting to pay for my purchase and you call me Miss
You do not see me, a queer trans masculine person who most days feels fluid along the gender spectrum.
When you reduce my existence to a statistical fact
You do not see me and all the complex ways I exist in the world
When you reduce my life to stereotypes and “its just a phase”
You don not see that I am a lover, someone’s child, a friend, your co-worker
When you dismiss my right to exist
You do not see me and all my skills, talents and abilities. You do not see that I am both a knower of truths and a learner of life.
When you say I do not know what it is like to be a woman
You do not see me and the complex story that lives inside of me being once female and now male.
But when you dare to speak up when others make transphobic remarks.
I know that in that moment you can see me.
When you decide to be my friend because you like me and not so you can say you have trans friends
I know that in that moment you can see me.
When you use the wrong pronouns and you come to apologize
I know that in that moment you can see me.
When you speak up and out against the horrific acts of violence that happen to trans people.
I know that in that moment you can see me and are an ally
When you are an ally then I know we can work towards a better world for all people.”
Submission by Cherie Werhun
“I think what the Transgender Day of Remembrance means to me is that we remember those who were unfairly treated, harmed, killed due to transphobia. Where brave activists risk their lives to fight for what they believe in. I think this is a day where we honor those that have spent their entire life on fighting for the better of the transgender community.
I am an ally of the group because I believe in the power of being ourselves. I think more empathy really helps with understanding.
We will forever remember the courage, compassion and strong individuals that fight for transgender rights. It is not easy to be in a minority. Thank you for being brave with your life, letting yourselves be seen for who you are.”
FHASS's new LGBTQ+ studies course a resounding success
Sheridan's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHASS) recently launched a new breadth elective in LBGTQ+ studies, the first of its kind in Ontario.
Professor Peter Grevstad, who planned and developed the course, says it has been a smashing success.
"It’s necessary that everyone sees themselves in the curriculum," says Grevstad. "This course is one way to include people. And it’s not just queer people I’m teaching: there are allies, there are people from many religions and ethnicities – it’s a diverse group of people who come together to learn.”
For more on Pride at Sheridan, visit: thessu.ca/sheridanpride
Thank you,
Sheridan's Building Positive Space Committee & Sheridan Student Union
CENTRE FOR EQUITY AND INCLUSION : equity@sheridancollege.ca | ext. 2229