Happy Pride Everyone!
For those of you that don’t know, the month of June is Pride month! Pride didn’t begin as a parade or as Victoria’s annual Big Gay Dog Walk, it began as a protest led by trans women of colour. Over the decades, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community fought together to win the basic human rights and freedoms that so many others take for granted. Many folks in BC and across the globe are continuing this fight today.
2SLGBTQ+ people continue to face stigma and discrimination, and as a result face higher rates of violence, poverty, and mental health struggles. For people of colour in the community these issues can be even more complex and difficult. Nobody should ever be the target of violence or oppression because of who they love or who they are.
Our government continues to work hard to advance the rights and freedoms for all of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Here are examples of some of the actions we've taken so far:
- Flew the Trans flag at the BC legislature for the first time in history.
- Re-established BC’s human rights commission, which had been dismantled in 2002.
- Included ‘X’ as a third option in the gender field on government-issued ID, allowing us to more accurately represent the spectrum of gender identity.
- Moved to ensure that publicly funded, gender affirming lower surgeries are available in BC.
- Ensured that all 60 school districts are part of the BC SOGI Educator Network to help schools be more inclusive for students.
- Expanded coverage for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to ensure people at risk of contracting HIV in B.C. are benefiting from preventative treatment.
Sincerely,
