Two years ago at the CAMH Gender Clinic
“I have the perfect name. What do you think about Dawn?”
“It’s a very nice name, but it’s not clearly gendered.”
“What do you mean?”
“If someone hears it, over the phone, for example, the name doesn’t tell them your gender. Based on my experience, it’s easier if your name clearly [...]

Ever since I began considering transitioning genders, I’ve been reading about how hard it is. From the outside, it wasn’t obvious exactly why it was hard. Now I’m not so confused.
It’s a many-headed beast, complex in countless ways. Consider only one dimension: my name and my gender, as it relates to the bureaucracy of government.
I’ve [...]

Tipped off by a friend, I went to see George Smitherman speak at the University of Toronto this morning. He was the opening speaker at Healthy Queer Communities, a one day free conference on Queer Studies in Education, put on by OISE (the education faculty).
I must be a little heated up about this SRS + [...]

I commented to Maxine, CAMH’s facilitator (a trans woman herself), that I was surprised to find the group so small given the news.
“I had expected it to be a full house, given last week’s announcement.”
“So did I,” she said, and then paused for a second, before continuing “but they still hate us.”
“Yeah. I’m part of [...]

I got riled up about CAMH being proposed as the gatekeeper for SRS (sex reassignment surgery), which is being re-listed for coverage under Ontario’s health care system.
I really don’t like the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic! I think they hurt me, they wasted my time, and they made my family’s journey harder. I think their views [...]