Transgender Awareness Week: why community matters more than ever

By Trent Wilkie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette

Transgender Awareness Week in 2025 will be observed from Nov. 13 to Nov. 19, with Nov. 20 being the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The week of focus hopes to raise awareness and advocacy for the transgender community, while the day of remembrance honours the lives lost to anti-transgender violence.

Victoria Bucholtz is the director of learning and engagement for Skipping Stone, a non-profit organization that provides support and resources for transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse youth, adults and families across Alberta. She has been all over the province and has seen firsthand the strength of the communities in both urban and rural areas.

“Community is vital because it is how we protect each other, how we care for each other, and how we find belonging in a world that often isn’t designed for the transgender, Two-Spirit and non-binary community,” Bucholtz said. “Trans people are always strongest when we have other trans people in our lives who share our experiences.”

Bucholtz sees the upcoming awareness week as a way to celebrate the community while inviting others in.

“We can’t do that in isolation and we always need our allies to defend us,” Bucholtz said. “That is why Transgender Awareness Week is also intersectional, and we need our allies to come and learn and talk and connect with us to be aware of our challenges that we face and recognize that we are people just like them. Attacks on our human rights are attacks on their human rights as well.”

In a 2021 Statistics Canada census, it was reported that there are approximately 7,305 transgender people in Alberta. Another 5,170 are non-binary, including identities such as gender-fluid, Two-Spirit or genderqueer, with Alberta accounting for over 12 per cent of Canada’s transgender and non-binary population. Experts believe these figures may vary because of safety concerns and underreporting.

“We have to recognize that since its inception, Transgender Awareness Week, the political game and the discourse around trans lives has changed drastically,” Bucholtz said. “We’re no longer a small population that nobody knows about. Instead, we are a small population that a lot of people have vilified. We have received very damaging political messages from groups, politicians and bad-faith actors seeking to discredit our very way of life and attack our basic humanity. This is very troubling because now what started as a positive awareness campaign has turned into a target on our backs.”

Over the past several years there has been a spike in hate crimes against the LGBTQ2S+ community. According to CBC and the Calgary Police Service, 156 files were reviewed for hate motivation in the first half of 2023, with a shift toward crimes targeting sexual orientation and gender identity, especially transgender people.

There have been additional incidents across Alberta, with Global News and RCMP confirming a rise in LGBTQ2 hate incidents, including vandalized Pride crosswalks in Ponoka, Okotoks and Parkland County. As well, in High River, a Pride group reported windows smashed, Pride flags torn down and break-in attempts in 2024, linked to anti-2SLGBTQIA+ sentiment, according to Lakeland Today.

As well, the UCP is considering invoking the notwithstanding clause to protect legislation restricting transgender rights from Charter challenges, according to a recent CBC story about the leaked Justice Department memo. The proposed move would shield three laws: a ban on gender-affirming hormone treatments for minors under 16, mandatory parental consent for name and pronoun changes in schools and restrictions on transgender girls in female amateur sports. The measures face legal challenges from advocacy groups including Egale Canada and Skipping Stone. Critics warn the plan undermines equality rights and could set a dangerous precedent.

“I fear that awareness without protection is leading to a situation where we are increasingly threatened and our very safety is at stake,” Bucholtz said. “So while I love the awareness, I hope that it leads to a campaign to protect and defend the safety of the transgender community, as we continue to be a vibrant part of our communities.”