Downtown Eastside Trans Collective offers a safe space, health services, and a voice on public policy

published on May 19, 2015 by Travis Lupick , in The Georgia Straight

A new weekly meeting at the Downtown Eastside’s Drug Users Resource Centre (DURC) promises a safe space for anybody who identifies as transgender.

Dubbed the “Trans Collective”, the group meets every Friday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 412 East Cordova Street across from Oppenheimer Park.

In a telephone interview, its founder and co-facilitator (who identifies as trans), Nikki McWhinney, said the program is still getting off the ground. But she said the idea is for the collective’s members to shape and drive activities themselves.

“Basically, all I wanted is a safe place for trans people to come, to hang out, and to be themselves,” McWhinney told theStraight. “I’m leaving the programming up to the group. I want it to be their group. I want them to pick what they want.”

She said the Trans Collective is also providing free hormone-gauge syringes plus trans-friendly harm-reduction supplies. Friday afternoons will see a trans-competent doctor on-site to provide free medical services. DURC also offers a gender-neutral washroom. (While DURC hosts the meetings, non-drug users are of course welcome to attend, McWhinney added.)

In a separate interview, Kailin See, a program director with the Portland Hotel Society (which runs the Drug Users Resource Centre), noted the services the collective offers might sound simple, but she maintained there are urgent needs.

“Right now, going to the washroom for trans individuals in our community is dangerous and difficult,” she explained. “So we have identified a few key areas of need for the trans community in our neighbourhood. Like access to clean testosterone-gauge syringes for injecting. Currently there is a big problem with sharing that grade of syringe because they are not readily available.”

In addition to offering support services, See said the Trans Collective is also becoming a venue through which participants can contribute to public policy. She recalled that McWhinney and another member recently spoke before the Provincial Health Services Authority’s “Transgender/Trans Health Steering Committee”, which is presently revising how trans health care is delivered across B.C.

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BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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Downtown Eastside Trans Collective offers a safe space, health services, and a voice on public policy

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