Kennery: I'm trans and I'm done with being invisible (2025)

We marked the International Day of Transgender Visibility on March 31, but visibility itself can be a fraught subject.

More than 800 bills have been introduced in U.S. state legislatures this year, aiming to strip away basic rights and dignity from trans people. These attacks are not just political theatre; they have real consequences, including increased suicide attempts among trans youth.

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This follows an election in which more than $200 million was spent on anti-trans advertisements to mislead voters and promote hate of trans people.

If you think Canada is immune from this kind of rhetoric, think again.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has made it very clear that she is following the same playbook. Her own recent anti-trans bills have been widely criticized by leading medical associations and those working in positions of care. This is after the former premier of New Brunswick watched his government fall apart after firmly planting his feet on the wrong side of history.

We see this as well federally, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre feigning ignorance about the existence of nonbinary people, all while trolls attack Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s adult child for using they/them pronouns.

This is the environment that people qustioning their gender identity have to navigate every day.

Coming from someone who specializes in media relations and communications, I can tell you that 2025 seems like a terrible time to come out. But in many ways, the timing is perfect. The current political environment was one of the driving factors for me to accept my own identity as a trans woman over the last two years.

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How can I expect the world to be more accepting of trans people like me if I don’t start living as myself? Why should I spend my one life in a gender that I’m not comfortable with? Isn’t that exactly what these bad actors want: to silence and erase who I really am?

How can I expect the world to be more accepting of trans people like me if I don’t start living as myself?

Over time, I was able to unpack the feelings I’ve quietly struggled with about my assigned gender at birth for much of my life. Through therapy, reflection and gender-affirming care, I arrived at a place of self-acceptance.

And, believe it or not, others have accepted me too. People simply treat me like a human being, and we move on to the next topic of conversation.

It’s almost as if gender — despite all the ways it made me feel homesick, and all the ways it drives scared lawmakers to do harmful things — doesn’t have to be a source of shame or fear.

It’s almost as if there were nothing wrong with being trans after all.

Of course, transphobia and misogyny are real. Those who seek to harm people like me are emboldened by leaders who score cheap political points from hurting trans people. And because of that, I am forced to think about my safety in ways I never previously had to consider.

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I also know that I speak from a position of privilege, and the calculus of coming out is not the same for everyone. All I can do is live my life openly in hopes that it makes it a little bit easier for those who walk the same path after me.

Looking at the big picture, I have found much joy as part of the process of transitioning. And humour. Opting into a second puberty in your 30s is as strange and funny as it sounds.

A friend remarked a few weeks ago that I was “glowing.” It wasn’t just the 50 hours of painstaking electrolysis; it was the truth. There’s such an ease and peace when you finally feel comfortable in your skin.

What a gift: to be able to live a second life, in this life. I’m proud to be trans.

In Canada, transgender and nonbinary people make up about 0.33 per cent of the population. It is strange that there is such an oversized effort to make life so difficult for this incredibly small minority of people.

We are your friends, family members, and neighbours who — like you — simply want to make ends meet and live happy lives.

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Of course, there are many in positions of power who are happy to play politics with our wellbeing. They are using us as a wedge. Anti-trans rhetoric is a distraction from the real issues that affect our everyday lives.

Banning trans people from playing sports won’t bring the price of groceries down.

Obsessing over which washrooms people use won’t add a dime to a single pension cheque.

Making gender-affirming care harder to access won’t make it easier to buy a home.

Folliwing my first Day of Transgender Visibility as a visible trans person, my hope is that we call out anti-trans rhetoric for what it is: a distraction. It’s being used to divide people into us and them. And the cost is paid in safety, dignity and lives.

History will not be kind to this chapter in politics. Isn’t it time to write a better one?

Roslyn Kennery is a vice-president at Emdash, a campaign and brand agency. She is a former senior adviser to the Mayor of Ottawa.

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