July 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 37

ness and recreational activities are
staying home. "
The TGVIWG was formed by the
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation in May 2013 and included eight
members and allies of Vancouver's
trans and gender-variant community
as well as one park board commissioner. They quickly set out to gather
information and divided their process
into two phases: community engagement and community review. During
the initial community engagement
phase, which centered on the fall and
winter months of 2013, the team conducted site tours, held workshops and
community meetings, conducted polls
and online surveys, and led training
for recreation staff members. In addition, the group interviewed park and
recreation staff at all levels to identify existing access barriers as well as
ideas for improving facilities and services. These opportunities generated
a lot of feedback for the TGVIWG
to analyze and consider as they went
into their community review phase,
held in the spring of 2014 and consisting of community meetings, online
surveys, focus groups and advisory
committee meetings. As they gathered their findings and prepared their
report, TGVIWG members aimed for
realism in their recommendations,
recognizing budget restrictions and
other limitations, but they also sought
to provide truly helpful guidance that
would best support the needs of the
trans and gender-variant community
in Vancouver. " We strove to identify
high-impact, low-cost strategies that
would create more options for all
users to access safe space and programs, " says Brown.
The final report, released in April,
includes 77 specific recommendations for public spaces, signage, programming, financial accessibility,

forms and literature, human resources and training, community partners
and procedures throughout Vancouver's park and recreation operations.
The list includes the following recommendations, to name just a few:
In the development of all new changing rooms in aquatic facilities, include three separate change rooms:
Universal, Women and Men.
Ensure current program instructors and facilitators receive information on creating safe, accessible
and inclusive spaces for trans and
gender-variant individuals.
Ensure inclusion of trans and gender-variant patrons in gendered
classes, groups and/or teams.
Increase rental subsidies for groups
that provide existing trans and gender-variant programming.
Ensure inclusivity of trans and
gender-variant youth in children
and youth summer camps and other youth programming.
Develop and implement a public
education campaign in advance of
changes arising from the recommendations, including registration, space
and signage. Explain different terminology (e.g., universal) and trans
and gender-variant needs and issues.
Work with leaders in language communities to make culturally relevant
materials that speak to differing cultural contexts of gender.
Identify opportunities to attract
and retain staff and instructors and
make the workplace welcoming,
respectful and inclusive of trans
and gender-variant staff people.
With each recommendation, the
TGVIWG includes a timeframe for
when action should be taken. Significantly, the report does not only recommend that physical changes be made
to facilities (e.g., addition of universal
washrooms and signage), it also offers

specific advice to help improve staff
and public interactions with members
of the trans and gender-variant community. In addition, the report notes
the recommended changes will benefit
the broader community as well. For example, universal washrooms can more
easily accommodate families as well
as users with limited mobility or those
who are accompanied by caregivers.
TGVIWG members presented their
report at a Vancouver Park Board
meeting in April, where the motion to
receive the report, create a new Trans
and Gender-Variant Implementation
Steering Committee to assist staff with
implementing the recommendations,
and direct staff to provide a status update on implementation progress and
key outcomes within one year was carried unanimously by the board. Starting immediately, many of the TGVIWG's recommendations will be put
into action, improving park services for
members of Vancouver's trans and gender-variant community and increasing
accessibility and inclusivity for all.
" The Vancouver Park Board saw
record attendance at its meeting to
pass this policy, " says Brown. " Trans
community members spoke eloquently about how much it will mean
to finally be able to access safe recreational spaces. Doctors, lifeguards
and disability advocates talked about
how dramatically this can contribute
to creating safer spaces for all users.
Mothers talked about how this will
help them to access safer spaces and
to help them to raise their children
in a more progressive world. People
have recognized that providing more
users with more options will benefit
all users and that it is, indeed, a
matter of human rights. "
Danielle Taylor is the Senior Editor of Parks
& Recreation Magazine (dtaylor@nrpa.org).

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