International Women’s Day | women too

What place is given to trans women in the celebration of International Women’s Day? Do they feel seen and heard, both on this day and in feminist discourse in general? The Press posed these questions to the principals concerned.

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

Gabrielle Bouliane-Tremblay, actress and author, feels included and considered during Women’s Rights Day (she mentions in particular the invitation of Marie-Lise Pilote for her show women together, in March 2017). However, she says she also feels “a little more vulnerable” on March 8. “We’ve gotten so used to defending ourselves that it stays in our bones, in our muscles, in our way of moving, our way of being and our way of approaching a day like this where you have to sometimes to justify oneself. »

She recalls that “some people don’t see trans women as real women and there are organizations and people who are called TERFs. [trans-exclusionary radical feminist – une mouvance transphobe du féminisme]. [Leurs discours] hurt me a lot because it’s like putting us in a box apart and looking down on us. It takes away our humanity, our dignity. And often, these are people who shout very loudly and who are heard. It’s damaging for a whole community that is already super ostracized. »

“A basic principle of feminism is that there should be no hierarchy of human beings according to biology, underlines Ariane Marchand-Labelle, who is not a trans woman, but who expresses herself as director of the Quebec LGBT Council. Feminism challenges traditional gender roles, which is also what the trans movement does. »

According to Gabrielle Bouliane-Tremblay, “cis people[genre] have a responsibility, as allies, to promote trans identity through feminism”, whether on Women’s Rights Day or any other day of the year. “Because a feminism that isn’t inclusive isn’t feminism for me,” she says. I think the allies have become more and more truly aware of the importance they have in our revolution, in our development. »

An evolution, but a lot of work to do

For Sophie Labelle, writer and activist, people in trans communities are “discouraged by the ordinary transphobia” that emerges from Women’s Rights Day. “Trans women are most often just an afterthought,” she notes.

According to her, “listening to speeches during this day is often like a minefield. However, I believe that on both sides of the feminist movements there is a desire to listen and learn, even if it can sometimes seem long when it is literally a question of survival”.

“Being an artist whose art is resolutely feminist, hardly a year goes by without my being invited to speak in connection with March 8,” underlines Sophie Labelle.

In “the brave new world”, trans women would still be included in the feminist movement, says the artist, however cautious in her optimism.

Things have evolved over the past ten years for the cause of trans people, points out Gabrielle Bouliane-Tremblay. “Transidentity is much more accepted, so in the media, there are many more people speaking out. But the inclusion effort is still far from enough. Every day, “we have to do more to spread this message of diversity, to allow less violence, but also to allow people to have a feeling of empowerment”.

The author and actress finally comes to “an adage as old as the world”: live and let live. “It’s super simple and it’s obvious,” she says. Before judging, you have to listen. We have two ears and one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we talk. Thus, she argues, we would better understand why it is imperative to celebrate and defend trans women when celebrating and defending all women.