Barriers to Accessing Justice for Two Spirit, Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Nonconforming People in Canada

This talk presents the results of an Access-to-Justice legal needs assessment of Two Spirit, trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming (2STNBGN) people conducted by JusticeTrans across the lands colonially known as Canada. This presentation will focus on how discrimination and harassment cuts across other legal issues, including those related to employment, housing, migration, and medical treatment. Through a series of participant quotes, we will break down how transphobia, transmisogyny, racism, and colonization are experienced at both a structural and personal level resulting in a distrust and disengagement of the legal system. To close, we will examine participants’ visions of a more just future, which evoke both immediate reform and education work, as well as long term structural changes including the abolition of police and prisons, and the decolonization of the legal system.

The presenters are:

• – Cat Haines is an emerging academic and artist weirdo, and established non-profit leader who strives to bring her dyke politics to work. Cat is currently the Executive Director at JusticeTrans, and was previously the Programs and Operations Manager at UR Pride, a 2SLGBTQ+ non-profit in Regina. She has also worked with TransSask, is a founding member of the Saskatchewan Trans Health Coalition, and a member of the Capacitor Advisory Council, which oversees a universal basic income program for Two Spirit and trans artists in Saskatchewan. Outside her work, Cat enjoys painting portraits of people she is in community with and creating Super-8 films documenting her queer family and life. 

• – Tai Jacob is currently a law student at Osgoode Hall Law School. They are a Board Director at Mazon Canada, the national Jewish response to hunger that supports initiatives that educate Canadians and foster effective solutions to end hunger. Prior to this, they were the Executive Director at JusticeTrans, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to justice for Two Spirit and trans people across Canada. Tai received her MA in Geography from McGill University in 2020, where she did research with trans and gender nonconforming refugees about their experiences with the Immigration and Refugee Board. He has over five years of experience working in advocacy for refugee and migrant justice, trans and queer liberation, anti-poverty work, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion efforts at various organizations, companies, universities, and grassroots groups.