'Trans women are women': Canadian orgs declare support on International Women's Day

Organizations across Canada are driving home the point that transgender women must be considered when it comes to gender equality.

To coincide with International Women’s Day, the Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) has gathered signatures from hundreds of community organizations throughout the country to publicly affirm that gender equality can't be achieved without supporting, celebrating, and uplifting trans women. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Oxfam Canada, Imagine Canada and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network are just some of the organizations who have signed on to show their support for the statement.

Jaime Sadgrove is the manager of communications and advocacy with CCGSD, and uses they/them pronouns. They say the marked escalation of transphobic rhetoric and attacks in recent years could give the impression that there isn’t support for welcoming trans women into women’s spaces.

“We’re really of the belief that’s not what most people think,” Sadgrove tells Yahoo Canada.

“If you look at opinion polling, most people are broadly supportive of gender affirming care, the needs of trans people and that trans women are women who have a right to be included in the feminist movement.”

Across the U.S., anti-trans bills are being introduced at a sweeping pace. These range from denying the right of trans children and teachers from being visible in schools, blocking state recognition through birth certificates, and the ban on widely recognized gender-affirming healthcare.