As the National Youth Council of BGC Canada (formerly Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada), our membership consists of individuals in the 2S & LGBTQIA+ communities, as well as allies from other diverse backgrounds.

Less than two months into 2023, more than 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in the United States at the state level, 150 of which target transgender individuals. This is the highest number of anti-trans bills to be introduced in a single year ever.

Anti-trans sentiments are also prevalent in Canada; transgender and non-binary Canadians are concerned about transphobic ideology worsening across the country. Without strong advocacy and vigilance, this legislative attack in the United States could make its way here.

As young people affected by these harmful ideologies, we are concerned, frustrated, and exhausted. No individual should ever have to debate or justify their existence.

As members of BGC Canada’s National Youth Council, we are calling for change within our systems and our everyday lives. As an ally, you have the power and responsibility to help make that change. Below, we have provided several ways that you can contribute.

Sign petitions. Call, text, and email. Write letters to your local policymakers. Donate. Educate yourself and your family. Advocate for your trans peers even when they’re not around. Check on your affected friends, take care of your mental health, and help us defend and protect human rights.

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Ways to help

Petitions

• Protect Transgender Texans

Donations

• Canada Helps – supports LGBTQ+ Charities

Mental Health Resources

• Kids Help Phone – space for 2SLGBTQ+ youth and allies
• Trans Lifeline – provides trans peer support
• It Gets Better Campaign – uplifts, empowers, and connects LGBTQ+ youth around the globe
• Lesbian, Gay, Bi & Trans Youthline – offers free peer support for youth aged 26 and under (1-800-268-9688)
• The Trevor Project – provides information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round

Stay Educated

• Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S State Legislatures
• Understanding the Transgender Community
• Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Young People
• Transgender Children & Youth: Understanding the Basics

Additional Resources

• Adults supporting 2SLGBTQI Youth
• Supporting youth well-being through anti-oppression principles
• Preparing Students for the Transition of a Trans or Gender Diverse Peer
• BGC Canada’s 2S & LGBTQIA+ Toolkit (for senior leadership and decision makers)

By Owen Charters

An item out of the U.S. caught my eye last week and reminded me of the stark contrasts to Canada. A pilot project took students from underprivileged communities and gave them access to Ivy League classes, such as you might experience in the first year at Harvard or Stanford. And these students, who struggled to get GPAs that might grant them access to these prestigious institutions, excelled in the classes. The study demonstrated that perhaps it wasn’t their GPA, their perceived intellectual capacity that held them back from these schools. It was having access at all. The system they are in is holding them back, driving down their academic scores, and leaving them perennially overlooked for higher education in elite academia. But given a chance, they can compete with the best of them.

We don’t have a system like this in Canada. We don’t have legacy admissions (where preference is given to family relations of previous alumni). We have a much more equitable access system for postsecondary education.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have something to learn from the experiment in the United States. There are real barriers in Canadian neighbourhoods, in communities where there are fewer opportunities, fewer supports for students. Few role models and mentors who themselves have completed and succeeded in postsecondary education. Teachers who are overwhelmed. A support system that’s thin and almost breaking. In the Toronto District School Board, fundraising for school improvements is discouraged, and outright banned for some capital items. The reason is that wealthy neighbourhoods would pour private money into their neighbourhood public school, creating a drastic imbalance for those schools that don’t have access to this type of fundraising. The system would be out of whack. Many school boards likely follow a similar policy. Ideally, any fundraising should go to fill significant gaps first—but there’s not much appetite to give to a public, government-run system in communities that are out of sight, out of mind. So the system continues.

And that’s where we come in at BGC. With formal programs like RBC’s Raise the Grade, or informal mentoring, or teaching STEM, like Fidelity’s STEAM Ahead, our Clubs try to fill the gaps. Because the gaps exist. While our students have better access to postsecondary education in Canada, many are still often overlooked. Sometimes it’s teachers who don’t see the hidden potential, sometimes it’s biases in the system, and sometimes it’s that the individual was taught not to believe in themselves. But if we can help them find it and take advantage of it, opportunity exists for everyone.

Opportunity changes everything.