Keywords:
support, trans, safe space, friends
support, trans, safe space, friends
*When Tara contacted Dawn to ask her if she approved of the way Tara used her words in a chapter in Tara’s book, Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School, out in early 2019, Dawn gave Tara an update of how her family was doing. Since her interview in November 2016, Dawn has gained full custody of her children. Her daughters have switched schools, and the new school accepts her younger daughter as trans. Dawn says it was a non-issue for the school. Dawn’s younger daughter uses her chosen name and the girls' washroom at school. None of the other children know she’s trans. Overall, Dawn says, school is a much safer place now for both her daughters.
Transcript
Dawn: Well, Around the Rainbow at Family Services has been a huge support, and Beck who works there is probably saving so many kids lives in the city, maybe without even knowing about it. Just by keeping a safe space, they have a playgroup for queer and trans parents and queer and trans kids. And, they have a youth group which “child’s name” can go to when she’s older. Oops I said the name, that she can go to when she’s older. And then they have a parents group which is one night a month. And they started over the summer doing a trans youth swim night. Which was really amazing because she hadn’t been wanting to go swimming at a public pool in a while, and then after going just once in the safe space, then now she’s back swimming in public pools again and using the girls’ change room, and it’s become much less of a big deal.
So, it’s not possible to say enough about having safe spaces for trans kids, and it’s also benefitted the siblings too, like and the parents just to be able to see different types of families and to feel like you’re not the only one. And I think Beck at Family Services is probably one of the first people that I talked to, and really like all of that work that’s happening in the city, it’s really, really amazing. And also we see Dr. Feder at CHEO, and that’s helpful that it’s in the city, like it’s actually here, we don’t have to travel. So, I’m really thankful that we live in Ottawa and not you know, some remote place where there isn’t any of these services. Because I think it’s made a really big difference in her quality of life to be able to meet a lot of other kids, and she has a lot of other friends that are in close age to her that we see, so that’s definitely a positive that needs to stay going on in the city.
Transcript
Dawn: Well, Around the Rainbow at Family Services has been a huge support, and Beck who works there is probably saving so many kids lives in the city, maybe without even knowing about it. Just by keeping a safe space, they have a playgroup for queer and trans parents and queer and trans kids. And, they have a youth group which “child’s name” can go to when she’s older. Oops I said the name, that she can go to when she’s older. And then they have a parents group which is one night a month. And they started over the summer doing a trans youth swim night. Which was really amazing because she hadn’t been wanting to go swimming at a public pool in a while, and then after going just once in the safe space, then now she’s back swimming in public pools again and using the girls’ change room, and it’s become much less of a big deal.
So, it’s not possible to say enough about having safe spaces for trans kids, and it’s also benefitted the siblings too, like and the parents just to be able to see different types of families and to feel like you’re not the only one. And I think Beck at Family Services is probably one of the first people that I talked to, and really like all of that work that’s happening in the city, it’s really, really amazing. And also we see Dr. Feder at CHEO, and that’s helpful that it’s in the city, like it’s actually here, we don’t have to travel. So, I’m really thankful that we live in Ottawa and not you know, some remote place where there isn’t any of these services. Because I think it’s made a really big difference in her quality of life to be able to meet a lot of other kids, and she has a lot of other friends that are in close age to her that we see, so that’s definitely a positive that needs to stay going on in the city.