I wonder sometimes about just how many transgender people there are in Canada. I’m not talking about people who have fully transitioned. I’m talking about people who live between the official binary genders, who live it daily, in the schools, in the workplace. Or who want to live it daily.
When MP Rob Anders was reponding to the Calgary Herald about the washroom issue, he referred to trans people — he may have meant MtF people — as making up less than one per cent of the population. Considering that Canada has a population of about 35 million people, less than one per cent would be fewer than 350,000 people — and even that number seems high. I have a feeling it is much lower.
Feedback wanted . . . any idea? 5,000?, 10,000? Or more? Or less?
As for the question about the word “transgender” being used as a noun, I have received one response that actually addressed the issue, and that person is not opposed to being called “a transgender.” I’m getting the feeling transgender people don’t really mind.
Jillian
Send comments to jpage@montrealgazette.com
