An advocacy and support group for transgender people in Northern Ontario will speak about transgender health at the world stage on June 15.
Vincent Bolt, project co-ordinator with TG Innerselves, was invited to speak at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health conference in Amsterdam.
Jenna Webber, a fourth-year medical student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, will join Bolt to present on the Breaking Down Barriers project, an initiative to create more welcoming primary care environments for trans people.
Webber worked with other medical students and TG Innerselves to develop patient registration forms that accommodate people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans.
“When patients are going in to see a physician for the first time it asks questions that can lead to those difficult conversations,” said Bolt.
The form asks, for example, what gender a person identifies with, and their preferred name, rather than assume they choose to go by their legal name.
Bolt said small changes on registration forms for new patients can reassure people who are trans that they are in a safe space.
The conference will give Bolt and Webber a chance to educate medical professionals from around the world, and give them a small glimpse into Northern Ontario initiatives to tackle transgender rights issues.
“This is huge,” Bolt said. “This is the top of the mountain when it comes to professional standards.”
The invitation to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health conference comes after a busy month for TG Innerselves.
On May 17 the group received the Youth Role Model of the Year award at the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity awards dinner in Toronto.
The next day, Bolt, along with TG Innerselves members Rita OLink and Dar Hansen hosted an education session for youth in Marathon.
Bolt said he expected 20 people to show up for the session, but there were around 65 participants instead.
“I was blown away,” Bolt said.
To help cover the flight costs to Amsterdam TG Innerselves has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a $2,000 goal.
