by ANDREA ZANIN

What’s in a name? A whole lot, according to Julie-Maude Beauchesne, president of the Coalition des Transsexuel(le)s et Transsexués(e)s du Québec (CTTQ) and chief organizer of this Saturday’s Trans Day of Pride.

“Our names touch our private lives so deeply, and non-operated trans people often encounter roadblocks when they want to change their name to one that matches their gender of choice,” Beauchesne says. “People think sex is all about your genitals, but in everyday life people don’t look in your underwear to see what sex you are. It’s in your manner, your clothing, your look, your voice, your name. When you go to rent a video and they ask you for ID, and your official ID has the wrong letter on it compared to the way you look—the difficulties that come up far outstrip the relevance of gender to these everyday sorts of things.”

The good news is that, thanks to the efforts of the CTTQ, it will soon be easier for trans people in Quebec to add a name of the appropriate gender to their ID without having sex reassignment surgery (SRS) as a prerequisite. The details will be given during one of the many talks at the free Trans Day of Pride event, which runs on April 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UQÀM’s Pavillon de l’éducation (1205 St-Denis).

“The Trans Day of Pride is an anchoring point in the year for the trans community to come together, where people who work in these areas can meet and learn from one another,” says Beauchesne. “And it’s a time for trans people to feel pride in being who they are.”

But the day is not only for trans people themselves; it’s also a learning opportunity for people who are sympathetic to the cause. “Trans diversity is not just for trans people,” Beauchesne says. “The day is also for people involved with trans folks, employers, community organizers and anyone else who’s interested in learning about the issues. The doors are open!”

In addition to name-change information, a speaker panel will sum up recent developments with regard to obtaining provincial SRS coverage. “There’s nothing official yet, but we’ve made some steps,” says Beauchesne.

Currently, SRS is generally not funded by Medicare in Quebec, and the expense of the surgery is prohibitive to many trans people. Also, Tynan Jarrett of queer youth support group Project 10 will talk about the challenges faced by transsexual parents, author Patrick Verret will address issues particular to female-to-male transsexuals, and Viviane Namaste, adjunct professor at Concordia University’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute, will discuss activist strategies among anglophone and francophone transsexuals.

After a hard day of learning, the party starts at Cabaret Cléopâtre (1230 St-Laurent, 2nd floor) at 9 p.m. with a show and a Christine Jorgensen awards ceremony (named after one of the first people to undergo SRS) for trans activists.