Chilliwack Gender Support Network
The GSN is brought to you with the support of Trans Care BC, Sto’lo Nation and the Chilliwack Youth Health Centre, with Envision Financial, a division of First West Credit Union, as the official food and transportation sponsor of the Trans Youth Alliance. The Chilliwack Gender Support Network is comprised of transgender individuals, parents of LGBTQ2IA children, partners and family of trans individuals, and various service providers in the medical and mental health field. The program is committed to promoting and providing trans competent, gender-affirming services in our community.
Our mission is to empower transgender & gender diverse children, youth, and adults and their families, to live life fully surrounded by the support of those who have come before them, lifted by timely and adequate resources when needed, strengthened through education, and protected fully by law.
We strive for equity, removing as many barriers as possible to assist trans people to reach their goals and live a happy and healthy life.
GSN Sponsors
* Transgender * Gender Non-Conforming * Non Binary *
Chilliwack Gender Support Network Can Help With:
Feeling Suicidal? Please Call 911 Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566
Support Groups
GSN All-Ages Support Group
Every 2nd Tuesday – 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Ages 14+ / All Genders Welcome
Free, Peer-led Support Group for Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming People of All Ages & Their Families who wish to network with and support each other.
Online & at The Metis House
7201 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack, BC
Please contact us for the link at chilliwackgsn@gmail.com
Trans Youth Alliance (TYA)
Every Wednesday – 4pm to 5:30pm
Ages 12-18 / All Genders Welcome
Free, Weekly After-School Trans Support Group & Activities, led by Psych-students and Transgender & Gender Non Conforming Youth.
Please contact us for location details – chilliwackconnections@gmail.com
Sponsored by:
Chilliwack Rainbow Families
Thursday Evenings – 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Children and Parents of Children under 12 / All Genders Welcome
Providing educational and peer support to children and parents of children under 12 experiencing gender diversity. Please being and open mind and honest questions. Childcare provided.
Please contact us if you are interested – chilliwackgsn@gmail.com
Jackie’s Whine & Cheese
Every 2nd Saturday – 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Ages 14+ / All Genders Welcome
Free, Peer-led Support Group for Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming People of All Ages
Online Only
Please contact us for the link at chilliwackgsn@gmail.com
AMAB Discord Group
Every 2nd Monday – 6pm to 8pm
All Ages / Restricted for AMAB
Free Discord Trans Support Group
Online Only
Please contact us for details – chilliwackgsn@gmail.com
AFAB Game Nights / Discord
3rd Thursday of Every Month
All Ages / Restricted for FTM / AFAB
Free Board Game & Food Nights. Ask about our Discord Server!
Please contact us for details – chilliwackgsn@gmail.com
WE ASK THAT YOU MASK
Protect Yourself & Others from COVID-19
Frequently Asked Questions
Email chwkgendercare@fraserhealth.ca to make an appointment with a physician for more information.
Please email chwkgendercare@fraserhealth.ca to make an appointment with a physician for more information.
Gender expression | External appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
Gender dysphoria | Clinically significant distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the term – which replaces Gender Identity Disorder – “is intended to better characterize the experiences of affected children, adolescents, and adults.”
Gender transition | The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions.
Sex assigned at birth | The sex (male or female) given to a child at birth, most often based on the child’s external anatomy. This is also referred to as “assigned sex at birth.”
Transphobia | The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.
Transgender | An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Cisgender | A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Non-binary | An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do.
Androgynous | Identifying and/or presenting as neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine.
Gender-fluid | According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender; of or relating to a person having or expressing a fluid or unfixed gender identity.
Genderqueer | Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as “genderqueer” may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.
