Gender-affirming Care in Action: Stories and Insights from the Frontline

Dr. A.J. Lowik is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, part of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. Their work focuses on the reproductive lives and health of trans people, including in the areas of menstruation, abortion, lactation, perinatal care, and fertility. They lead a Research Equity Toolkit project called “Gender & Sex in Methods and Measurement,” focused on providing researchers with the tools to design research that mobilizes gender and sex concepts accurately, precisely and inclusively. Dr. Lowik is the President of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, a member of the BC Period Poverty Task Force, and part of a BC Law Institute Project Committee reviewing Part 3 of the Family Law Act. They work with researchers, healthcare providers, social service organizations, yoga studios, law and policymakers, supporting the development of gender-affirming and trans-inclusive policies and practices.

Read an interview with Dr. Lowik about their new book, which explores the experiences of transgender people accessing reproductive health care in British Columbia.

Ari is a queer non-binary second generation Eelam Tamil (Sri-Lankan Tamil) Canadian. They consider themselves an artivist, finding ways to combine their love for art with their love for social justice and education. They are an ESL teacher, Teaching Assistant, theatre artist, jewelry maker, creative writer, and avid reader. Ari completed an undergraduate degree in Business Communications at Brock University while completing minors in Dramatic Arts & Women and Gender Studies. During their time in St. Catharines, Ari got involved with different EDI social justice organizations such as the Brock Student Justice Centre and OPIRG-Brock. Ari is currently completing their PhD in Education at York University after completing their MA in Education at York University. Ari has recently self-published two books, called “DEAR BODY”, and “displaced.”, both exploring the intersectionality of their queer and cultural identities. Ari is currently focusing their doctoral research on their QTBIPOC Disabled community, exploring post-secondary education experiences while reimagining more inclusive classrooms.

Dr. Dan Metzger is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at BC Children’s Hospital and a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. Dr. Metzger and his team, in conjunction with mental-health partners in the community and onsite, have been seeing trans and gender-diverse youth since 1998. They were the first clinic in Canada and the second in North America to offer gender-affirming medical treatments for this population, and they have now served over 1000 youth in their clinic. Most recently, Dr. Metzger was a co-author on the Canadian Paediatric Society’s position statement on affirming care for trans and gender-diverse youth.

Dr. Ingrid Cosio has been a family physician in Prince George for 20 years. She is a primary preceptor for the Prince George Family Practice Residency program and recently completed a 10-year appointment as the Behavioral Medicine faculty lead at this UBC site. She is the Physician Lead for the Northern Gender Clinic, which provides gender-affirming care to BC’s Northerners. She co-leads a local advocacy group called Physicians for Diversity & Inclusion.

Jae is a 30 year old Bisexual, Polyamorous, Trans Man of Filipino & Ethiopian descent residing in Toronto, Ontario.  

An avid member of the Toronto Trans community, Jae has spoken on multiple panels for Pride Toronto, & the 519 2SLGBTQ+ community centre. He has also done work for other Trans & Queer initiatives across the city, spanning back to 2015. 

Lorraine Grieves is a Two-Spirit, (Métis/Cree/Blackfeet/Scottish//Irish/English) person with family roots in the Red River (Winnipeg) area of Manitoba. Lorraine grew up on the unceded and ancestral homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples in what’s colonially known as Vancouver, BC. Lorraine is the founding director of the provincial program, Trans Care BC, at the Provincial Health Services Authority. Since 2015, Trans Care BC’s work has focussed on improving, enhancing and coordinating services for trans and gender diverse people in B.C.  Lorraine and the Trans Care team have been honoured to work alongside community members, clinicians, health authorities, multiple government ministries and health programs to bring gender-affirming care closer to home.  Lorraine is a registered clinical counsellor with a passion for program development and systemic change efforts that centre the expert, lived experience wisdom of service participants in co-designing work that impacts them.  Previous work has been focused on youth & family and adult community-based services with an emphasis on Indigenous health, youth health promotion, concurrent disorders, harm reduction and substance use treatment.  Lorraine is proud to be the parent of a now-adult daughter who is an ongoing inspiration.