Trans rights are human rights.
That was one of the messages expressed by the roughly 50 people who participated in P.E.I.’s first Stonewall March on Saturday, organized by a newly-formed group Masses Against Capitalist Oppression.
“Nothing like this has happened on P.E.I. before, to have a big street march and show the people of Charlottetown that trans people are here, their supporters are here and we all need to band together to resist oppression,” said Nova Arsenault, a transgender woman and one of the event organizers.
Marchers walked from the Coles Building to the Shaw Building where the Island’s health services is located.
The purpose was to spread the message about what it can be like for trans people in P.E.I.’s health system.
“Information to access things like how to change your documentation properly and to get on the list to start affirmation surgeries, that stuff isn’t clear even on the websites written by the government,” said Trevor Williams, a trans man from Ottawa now living in Charlottetown.
Those marching were met with applause and a standing ovation from patrons on the patio of John Brown Grille on Victoria Row.
“I didn’t expect the people on Victoria Row to clap for us,” said Arsenault. “I was very, very pleased to see that so many people stood up and clapped for us.”
The march also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
The riots occurred at the Stonewall Inn, a bar in New York which was popular amongst members of the LGBTQ2A+ community in the 1960s during an anti-gay legal system.
Arsenault said to the crowd that police would often raid the Stonewall Inn and do “gender checks.” She said if someone’s clothing did not match their gender they were forced to leave and many bar patrons at the time were trans people.
On June 28, 1969 members of the LGBTQ2A+ resisted police and fought back in what is now known as the Stonewall riots, which is seen as one of the most important events leading to the gay rights movement and paved the way for Pride celebrations across North America.
Arsenault said many people remember Stonewall but not for the important reasons.
“It’s not something that’s forgotten about but they’re kind of remembered in a superficial way,” she said. “They’re remembered as lots of drag queens doing the can-can in the streets in front of the cops. The spirit of it was a resistance against the police and that kind of stuff is lost.”
The march ended with speeches from organizers and supporters educating those in attendance about the history of Stonewall and the current barriers for transgender people living on P.E.I.
