Montreal Mirror – Andrea Zanin
What?s in a name? A whole lot, according to Julie-Maude Beauchesne, president of the Coalition des Transsexuel(le)s et Transsexu?s(e)s du Qu?bec (CTTQ) and chief organizer of this Saturday?s Trans Day of Pride.
?Our names touch our private lives so deeply, and non-operated trans people often encounter roadblocks when they want to change their name to one that matches their gender of choice,? Beauchesne says. ?People think sex is all about your genitals, but in everyday life people don?t look in your underwear to see what sex you are. It?s in your manner, your clothing, your look, your voice, your name. When you go to rent a video and they ask you for ID, and your official ID has the wrong letter on it compared to the way you look?the difficulties that come up far outstrip the relevance of gender to these everyday sorts of things.?
The good news is that, thanks to the efforts of the CTTQ, it will soon be easier for trans people in Quebec to add a name of the appropriate gender to their ID without having sex reassignment surgery (SRS) as a prerequisite. The details will be given during one of the many talks at the free Trans Day of Pride event, which runs on April 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UQ?M?s Pavillon de l??ducation (1205 St-Denis).