PhilG43

I am hoping to emigrate to canada very soon but i have a concern that i am not going to be accepted as i am a transexual (post op) and as i feel that Canada is a communnity of opportunity i still feel i will be one of a minority.
I was hopeing someone could give me a vote of confidence.

Judy in Calgary

I have two friends who are transexuals (both pre-op, both making the change from male to female).

Alberta is a conservative province, and transexuals are not well understood.

However, my friends both were pleasantly surprised when they came out of the closet, so to speak, and told their co-workers that they were transexuals. Contrary to what they'd feared, they found their co-workers supportive.

But they do run into ignorant comments from people who don't know them well.

Both of them are finding it difficult to raise the money for their surgeries. Transexual surgery is covered by some provincial health care insurance plans, but not the one in Alberta. But then, since you're post-op, that isn't an issue for you.

I would say you'd be better off in Canada's cities. Watch the movie, Brokeback Mountain, to get an idea of the attitudes in small towns, at least in the western half of the country. I can't speak for the eastern half.

I know Brokeback Mountain was about gays, but it doesn't matter. Anyone whose sexuality is different from the mainstream is not well understood in small towns.
x

andrewrb143

Canada is no different to any country in the world, you'll always find the small-minded ignorant individuals.

PhilG43

Having to listen to comments from ignorant people is commonplace for me,
but i am not here to shout on my soap box,
sounds like, as here its the big cities for me.

Poppy2

Well I wish you lots of luck in whatever you decide and wherever you go. As you say, there are smallminded people who will make ignorant comments wherever you go the world over. For myself, I was under the opinion that Canada in many things is quite accepting of alternative life choices......though most likely in the main cities. Google it, you are bound to find out more.

Jay Bird

Hi PhilG43, and welcome!
I really feel you will be better in one of the larger cities. I live in very smalltown SW Ontario which is a No Go area for anyone different.......it's like Homophobics r' us round here! They're anti-everyone who isn't a clone of themselves.. I work in the "large city" of Stratford, Ontario, and it's the same there. One of my very closest friends is a TV but keeps his female identity well hidden when he comes here, which is a shame.

All the very best to you wherever you decide to go...

See my signature? says it all.....

YYZlover

Just a slight correction, although I don't think you meant the following anyway.

Transexuals are not homosexual. (Or very rarely are. I have seen the odd one who post op date what is then the same sex.) Transexuals are straight people born in the wrong gender.

I know a pre-op male>female in UK who can't decide about the op as she is happy being both genders in one body. I say "she" as that is how I know her.

A former friend's niece is now a nephew.

To the OP. Like the rest I think you'll be better off in big city.

(And if nationality was a gender then I would consider myself a pre-op Canadian because I feel I am born in the wrong nationality. To the point I almost feel sick having to produce a non Canadian passport at border crossings.)

xxalxx

Be yourself ... if people dont like it ...they'll get over it

Rete

Curious how anyone would even know. It is not like wearing a scarlet "A" on your chest. Those that will know will do so because you have told them.

MarkG

One of my ex-workmates in England is a male-to-female transexual, and it's not that hard to figure out even if you don't know how to do it. Oddly, when he 'changed' he got far more of a negative reaction from the women in the company than the men.

Yoong

In Vancouver , the transgender community is
accepted by the general population.
There is a Transgender Health Program at Vancouver General
Hospital which provides counselling and outreach throughout BC.
http://www.vch.ca/transhealth/about/history.html

Hope that helps,
Yoong

Judy in Calgary

The process takes quite a long time, and starts well before surgery. A man who is preparing to become a woman takes hormones that cause his breasts to grow larger. One of my men friends who is going through this is middle aged. He was bald before, and one of the measures he took when he initiated the changes was to get a hair implant (or perhaps I should say hair implants) of long hair. To anyone who sees him, it's pretty obvious that something unusual is going on. Especially to the people who knew him before, it is very obvious that there have been changes. I'm guessing that he'll never really look like a woman, no matter how hard he tries. He's tall, even for a man, he has broad shoulders, and he has big hands.

My other transexual friend is a small, slightly built man, and on top of that he initiated the change process when he was younger. Because of those two factors, I'm guessing he'll look like a woman once the process has been completed.

Canadian Citizen

One question.........

How come I seldom hear of a "female to male " transsexual move ??

Could it be that a woman can dress and act like a male and not get any undue attention ? But a "woman " with huge hands and a prominent adams apple is a dead give away?


Jim B. Toronto.

Jay Bird

Oh for pete's sake, of course I know; your "slight correction" is inappropriate........I was merely pointing out that parts of this country are populated by extremely small-minded, narrow-minded bigots who are intolerant of anyone who is different!

The UK, I have found is more tolerant..........but it has taken years.

Elaine B.

Hi there

I guess you are always going to be in minority no matter where you live but if you move to Toronto for example the Church and Wellesley area is very accepting of everyone, you wouldn't get a second glance except maybe from the little girls at my sons school who would only stare if you were wearing a pretty dress. Even though I don't live in that neighbourhood anymore my son still goes to school there.

http://www.churchwellesleyvillage.ca/