Last week, newspapers reported the death of a 10-year-old child who took his own life after being bullied because of his gender identity. We, parents of trans or non-binary people, receive this news of infinite sadness with the greatest compassion for parents, family and friends who are grieving. But we also receive it with anger, because we can no longer see our children slowly dying. And, too often, simply die. We are tired of wondering who will be next and of living with this fear that we know too well.
Remember that discrimination based on gender identity or expression has been prohibited in Quebec since 2016. Unfortunately, between the text of the law and reality, there is a whole gap at the bottom of which young people, trans or not, too often perish. binaries. They are twice as likely as young cisgender people to have seriously considered suicide, and 27% actually do so. In addition, 66% of trans or non-binary youth have moderate to severe symptoms of depression: that’s three times more than cisgender youth. Of course, these young people need psychological support and resources. But we believe it is imperative to address the source of the problem.
Transidentity is not synonymous with psychological distress; it is transphobia that creates the latter. Being trans does not mean being in crisis. It is the world which continues to see transidentity as an accident, as an anomaly, an abnormality, which is causing the crisis.
But prenatal classes do not broach the subject with future parents, leaving them to fend for themselves and often bewildered when their child has passed through the difficult stage of disclosure. In schools, many seek training in order to support their students in creating an inclusive environment. However, organizations able to provide the necessary training are overwhelmed by demand and fail to meet expectations due to lack of funding.
Representations of trans or non-binary people in popular culture are on the rise, and we’re happy about that, but the supposed jokes and hate speech continue to circulate under the guise of opinion. Everything indicates to our young people that if, on the one hand, we advocate an open and loving world, on the other, we do not give ourselves the means to build it. From there to believe that it is because they are not worth it, there is only one step.
Our children are however the same, whatever their pronoun or their first name, whatever their clothes or their haircut. Our children deserve respect, love, acceptance and dignity.
Our trans or non-binary children deserve appropriate physical and psychological health care to help them face the transphobic world in which we live. What if we left them a world where transidentity is no longer perceived as an illness or an “identity crisis”? Maybe then they would stop dying of it.
* Signatories:
Catherine Lavarenne
Annie-Pierre Belanger
Stephanie Package
Genevieve Ste-Marie
Martine Gagnon
Lisa Bijeau
Louise Lavoie
Nancy Desjardins
Genevieve Bouchard
Karine Dicaire
Annie Lachapelle
Marianne Giguere
Emil Brisson
Josee Sevigny
Marie-Eve Belisle
michelle baxter
Laurianne Clutier
Marie-Helene Cousineau
Eve Leclaire
Claudia Rivera
Bernard Marois
Marie-Josee Cecyre
Gabrielle Guillon
Paul Paquin
Annie-Pier Couture
Marie-Josee Brouillette
Tamy Torres
Caroline Jourdain
Nathalie Herve
Azuredee Caines
Genevieve Savard