Over the past year, a number of local organizations and groups have moved forward—facing and overcoming challenges and barriers—to step closer to their shared vision of helping some of Nanaimo’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens
On our program this week, we focus on three initiatives that have persevered and emerged with new locations, services, and/or facilities—and a shared “new lease on life”. Join us for our discussion with leaders from three Nanaimo people-focused organizations… (more…)
Transgender Canadians are coming out at younger ages than ever before, raising a range of questions about sensitive issues related to gender and identity.*
We speak with Dr. Gail Knudson, medical director of the transgender health program with Vancouver Coastal Health, about some of the key medical and social challenges faced by transgendered people. (more…)
An ordained minister tells his church that he is a transgendered man
An ordained minister with over 27 years of service in the U.S. United Methodist Church shared with his congregation August 30th that he was born a girl and became a transgendered man over thirty years ago. Rev. David Weekley’s story has thrust him into the public eye and earned him a national award for his work and example in the United Methodist Reconciling Ministries. (more…)
Suzy Wedge’s personal journey—becoming a trans-person for the first time
Last New Year’s day, Suzy Wedge embraced femininity—differentiating it, as she says, from gender—becoming a trans-person for the first time. Her decision was followed by creative wave of song-writing, and Suzy Wedge and the Waves was born. As the band’s new CD—Transgression—is about to be released, we speak with Suzy Wedge about gender, identity, and music—and her personal experiences as a trans-person living in Nanaimo, B.C. Through music, and her developing activism, Suzy Wedge is calling for a ‘transgender revolution’. (more…)
Do British Columbia’s cuts to autism programs make any sense?
Several mothers of children with autism have become activists—and are challenging the B.C. Liberal government’s recent decision to reallocate funding from an early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) program. EIBI provides intensive early interventions that parents argue are effective—and that research suggests is cost-effective. (more…)
The prison suicide of Ashley Smith brings corrections deficiencies to light
Ashley Smith was a troubled teen from Moncton, N.B. who had been assessed by child psychologists several times in her youth, and was in constant trouble with the law. She was eventually placed in Ontario’s Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal prison, when she was 18. (more…)
