Towards better care for all

TransCare+

Find out how TransCare+ is creating better care for all Canadians by becoming a hub of resources and a safe space for knowledge sharing.

In life, certain experiences are universal.

For instance, at a certain point in life, everyone will need to make a decision about their health. However, not everyone has the same access to information or support necessary for making well-informed decisions.

But where do these information gaps exist, and what is being done to ensure all Canadians, especially those in underserved communities, receive better care?

The future is informed

Since 2019, the team at TransCare+ has been working towards a future where there is better care for all. 

“I think that we collectively as a world have been in a health crisis for quite some time and the pandemic sped a lot of that up”, explains Jacob Barry, Co-Executive Director at TransCare+. “It did shed a light on something that's always been there: marginalized communities experience more barriers in accessing knowledge about their care and accessing care in general.”

This rings true for many people in 2SLGBTQI+ communities, where these barriers continue to be persistent in their journey to obtaining care. 

Previously, there was no centralized place for the 2SLGBTQI+ communities to access well-resourced and credible information. TransCare+ curated an extensive hub of information to better equip 2SLGBTQI+ communities with topics ranging from gender-affirming care to reproductive rights, and more.

These resources are crucial for ensuring equitable access to affirming and respectful care. But it doesn't end there. TransCare+ takes a holistic approach to care by supporting individuals through teaching about informed consent.

“Informed consent is the idea that an individual will be provided with all of their care options from their care provider. From there, that individual can identify what path of care works best for them”, says Jacob.

A global need

Just a few short weeks after TransCare+ incorporated in May 2022, they received their first major funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).

As a result, TransCare+ hosted its first health and wellness summit called Queering Care: Crafting Radical 2SLGBTQIA+ Futures where topics ranged from listening to Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer perspectives on decolonizing care systems to the intersections of the fat liberation movement and disability justice.

Over 500 people registered from across Canada and internationally.

“This summit had a reach beyond what we had originally intended, which showed the need not only in our own home but globally,” says Jacob. 

It provided an important opportunity for members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities to gather, share information, and build crucial connections in a safe space where attendees could be as vulnerable as they wanted in their questions. 

“This time it was our communities who were the experts in their own care. We were just the vessel that helped to bring everyone together,” Jacob explains as one of the event’s major successes.

Connected communities

It is especially difficult for 2SLGBTQI+ communities to connect to one another in rural, northern, or remote communities due to poor internet connectivity and transportation challenges.^{Footnote 1}   Through their peer support programming, TransCare+ has helped to transform the lives of over 750 individuals in rural and remote areas across Canada.

One participant shared, “I come from a rural community in northern Ontario, and this was the first time I was around other people who simply just ‘got it’. I am forever grateful for this community.”

In only a few years, TransCare+ has been able to deliver 121 workshops, establish 13 community partnerships, and deliver over 2,000 resources.

When Jacob was asked what they wished more Canadians knew about issues facing queer and gender-diverse people, they paused for a moment. 

“A lot of the issues faced by queer and gender-diverse folk are healthcare issues faced by everyone,” says Jacob. “While there are additional issues for trans and gender-diverse people, there is power in working towards a common goal even in our differences.”

Additional resources

Care Hub - TransCare+ (transcareplus.org)

Online Courses - TransCare+ (transcareplus.org)

Resources - TransCare+ (transcareplus.org)

Rural Navigation Project - TransCare+ (transcareplus.org)

Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan… Building our future, with pride - Canada.ca

Glossary^{Footnote 2} 

Care: TransCare+ defines care in the most expansive way possible. They recognize care as everything that we do to maintain, continue, and repair our 'world' so that we can live in it as well as possible. TransCare+ understands care as the practices, rituals, and activities that people engage in to live healthy, joyful, barrier-free lives.

Indigequeer / Indigiqueer: A term coined by Theo Jean Cuthand to title the Vancouver Queer Film Festival’s Indigenous/Two-Spirit program in 2004. He used it to acknowledge that not all LGBTQIAA+ Indigenous People feel that Two-Spirit describes their identity. It’s sometimes used alongside the Two-Spirit identity or by those who do not identify as Two-Spirit, to describe the intersection of being queer and Indigenous.

Two-Spirit (also Two Spirit or Two-Spirited): A term coined by Myra Laramee in 1990 to broadly capture the history and complex understandings of gender roles, spirituality, and sexual and gender diversity in Indigenous cultures. Individual terms and roles for Two-Spirit People are specific to each Nation, and the term Two-Spirit is not meant to replace any culturally specific terminology or concepts already in use within Indigenous communities. It is also important to note that not all Indigenous peoples who hold diverse sexual and gender identities consider themselves Two-Spirit. An individual may identify as Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, LGBTQI+, some/all of those terms, or none. Due to its cultural, spiritual, and historical context, "Two-Spirit'' is an identity only to be used by Indigenous peoples.