Three days after the Transgender Day of Remembrance, West Side Pride platformed and honoured creative voices in the transgender community with a documentary screening and panel on Nov. 23.
The event “Trans(form) the Narrative” took place at Kanata United Church and began with a showing of Will & Harper followed by a speakers’ panel. Zoey Cunningham, Alyssa Gonzalez, Jodan Drosier and Janelle Niles answered questions about their experiences as members of the transgender community.
Will & Harper follows actor Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele on a cross-country road trip as Ferrell discovers Harper, his friend of over 30 years, is coming out as a transgender woman. They navigate this new chapter in their friendship as they travel across the U.S.
Marion Steele, West Side Pride’s chair, said they showed this documentary to start the event as like the movie, the event sought to transform the narratives around transgender individuals.
The film focused on the pain Harper felt before her decision to transition, and the impact it had on her life and relationships. The film also showed Ferrell’s perspective as he learned more about his friend’s community and how to be an ally.
Lain Joron, a librarian with the Ottawa Trans Library, said they thought the documentary was interesting in that it explored the trans experience through the lens of a celebrity. They also said they enjoyed seeing Ferrell act as an ally and good friend to Harper.
“There are some places that are terrifying to go out to [as a trans person],” Joron said. “[Ferrell] was a good example of having that cis friend that vouches for you, having that ally that’s like, ‘No, this person’s with me.’”
Each panel speaker shared their experiences before, during and after their transitions.
“Often queer history is written by cis, straight individuals,” said Victoria Burman, one of the event’s organizers. “It was really important in the current era of all of this propaganda and hatred and violence toward the trans community, to get actual trans people saying, ‘No, this is not the case. This is how we experience life, and this is what we do [to express it].’”
The speakers also shared how their experiences as transgender people, from acceptance to rejection, influences them creatively.
Niles explained how being a two-spirit person influences her comedy. She recalled an experience when a comedy club owner told her she wasn’t funny because she “had a niche” for comedy related to her life experiences.
“And I told him, I also have a nephew and aunt and uncle,” joked Niles, playing on the homophonic similarities between “niece” and “niche.” “And then I went home, and I wrote that joke down. That’s how sometimes creativity can come out of negativity, and I do that a lot.”
Gonzalez, an author and public speaker, said the intersectionality of her identity as an autistic, immigrant, transgender woman deeply influences her writing.
“All my writing, ultimately, is about characters who are very different from the world around them, trying to deal with this fact,” Gonzalez said.
Joron said they were looking forward to hearing the intergenerational panel speak because there’s an abundance of variety and nuances within the community.
“We’re not a one-size-fits-all sort of experience,” Joron said.
Drosier, 64, said transitioning impacted his relationships, as he experienced the breakup of a long-term relationship when he began transitioning at 38 years old.
“To me, love is love and when you love somebody, you love the whole person,” Drosier said. “So that was really bizarre for me … because I haven’t fundamentally changed in any way. I’ve just become a little more comfortable with who I am.”
Cunningham, 23, who began transitioning one year ago, said she was grateful for her network of friends who supported and accepted her.
“I’ve gotten very lucky so far, I think, with the people around me who can support me and who I feel I can be very open with,” Cunningham said.
Pamela Steele, another organizer with West Side Pride, said she believes these events are important to combat rising transphobia.
Pamela referenced recent policy changes in Alberta and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who spent millions of dollars on campaign advertisements attacking opposition leader Kamala Harris for her support of transgender rights.
“With what’s just happened in Alberta and what is happening across the border, I think that I personally fear we’re going in that direction,” Steele said.
“If people are open to learning and listening, I think a lot of that fear and stigma [around transgender people] can be changed. But if we don’t try, then we’ll just be where we are. It’s really important to try to just keep the ball rolling in a different direction.”
Featured image by Sophia Laporte/The Charlatan.
