After a decade, Vancouver's transgender community will hold a Trans Pride March on July 25
Scheduled one week before this year’s Vancouver Pride parade, the march will mark the end of 
a three-day Vancouver Trans Forum that will bring transgender people and their allies together to share skills and knowledge.
Kate Lamothe (pictured right), one of the organizers of the forum, told the Straight that the Trans Pride March isn’t affiliated with the Vancouver Dyke March and Pride parade—which will take place on July 31 and August 1, respectively—but it will be held in the same spirit as those events.
“A lot of trans people live more stealthily or what not, so it’s a way to just be out and proud,” the trans activist, musician, and performance and spoken word artist said by phone from her home in Vancouver. “We’re here, we’re trans, and some of us are queer. It’s just to raise the visibility, I think, and also just to be proud of ourselves.”
The Vancouver Trans Forum kicks off on the evening of July 23 at Rhodes Wellness College (280-1125 Howe Street), with a keynote speech by Sadie-Ryanne Baker of the D.C. Trans Coalition and an all-ages dance party.
On July 24, the forum will feature panels, workshops, and facilitated discussions geared toward transgender, genderqueer, and two-spirit individuals. Session topics include Trans 101: Becoming an Ally and Know Your (Trans) Rights, and one of the workshops is about self-defence.
The second day of the forum ends with an all-body swim at the Templeton Pool (700 Templeton Drive). Lamothe said that people of all genders, sexual orientations, and abilities who face discrimination at pools are encouraged to participate.
July 25’s sessions aim to educate service providers and health-care professionals about how they can be more inclusive of transgender people.
The Trans Pride March will start outside the college at 6:30 p.m. and head down Davie and Bute streets to Nelson Park.
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