Accessibility

Dear community! Recently we have had some inquiries around trans inclusivity. We wanted to address this more publicly and make clarifications around the workshops and who they are intended for.

 

To be honest, we are aiming to improve our trans inclusion and are in the process of doing more research and looking at other organizations and to the trans community for inspiration. We want to make a safe and healing space for those who identify with or have experiences related to our workshop topics. We know this doesn't happen overnight. One of our main resources for this is a toolkit from the 519 organization in Toronto: http://www.the519.org/education-training/training-resources. This is another resource forLGBTQ+ online safety https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/lgbtq-guide-online-safety/.

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One of the primary aims of the coop is to empower ourselves and members who have or have had experience with the physiology of the uterus, vulva, cervix, etc. and to have an exchange with other people who share this anatomy, sharing different knowledge and experiences. For this, that includes anyone who shares all or parts of that anatomy, including intersex, non binary and trans folks. What we don't want to do is give false expectations at this point that we have specific experience with health questions related to, for example hormones and transitioning. But we hope to include that in the future. We know that cis women face a range of barriers making it difficult to access health care (for example, safety, lack of knowledge of women's health issues among health professionals, among others) and core members of the coop have experienced that first-hand. But we are also aware that trans folks can have an even harder time accessing quality care within the traditional health care system.

 

We want to be transparent about where we are at as a collective and want to create a safe, welcoming space. Also we believe this is a complex conversation with different perspectives and we are very open to dialoguing on these issues. We are striving to be both inclusive of a range of experiences and identities, and will work on balancing the need to create a unique space of exploration and resistance against the oppression that women continue to come up against based on their gender while recognizing the need to support those facing similar experiences. And just generally want to create an open, loving space, where people can feel good and learn some cool shit.

 

In the meantime, the following workshops are closed to cis men: Self Defence, Writing Womb and Loving Massage. The following workshops are open to people who have or have had a uterus, cervix, ovaries and/or vulva: Vulva Puppets, My Menopause and My Hormones.

 

If you would like to be part of our conversation, contact us at tigerlotushealth@gmail.com.

If some of these terms are new to you and you would like more information, you can check out this (one of many resources on the subject) glossary of basic terms: https://transwhat.org/glossary/.