We spend a lot of time in the ACON Trans Health Equity team thinking about and planning for trans utopias, where every trans person is heard, respected, and loved for who we are, and where we can access the support and services we need close to home and without fear, judgement or rejection.

We know all of this is definitely in our future, and the advocacy fight will continue until we are free and equal in legislation, in society and across all areas of our lives.

Advocating for ourselves is an important skill to develop though, and self-advocacy is the process of speaking up for ourselves, in order to get our needs met.

We have a right to be treated as our gender, and respected like anyone else, and self-advocacy is when we are taking our own steps toward being seen and respected.

No matter how your trans experience manifests, your identity, your history or your expression, you have the right to be safe from discrimination, harm, violence and abuse.

You’re probably already advocating for yourself out in the world already, such as:

  • Ensuring people use your name and pronouns

  • Making sure you’re accessing trans-affirming services

  • Standing up for yourself or your friends

Making a self advocacy plan

Sometimes self-advocacy involves simply sharing our thoughts, feelings and questions. Other times it means thinking ahead, setting a goal and making a plan. The goal might be to access a service or change a policy. These tips and questions can help you build your self-advocacy plan:

  • Write down the issue in one sentence. State how your rights have been impacted. You may need to research your legal rights. If the issue has occurred in an organisation – like a workplace, clinic, or school – you may also need to research the organisation’s policies. The issue may be that a policy has not been followed, does not exist yet, or needs to be changed.

  • What is your goal? Be clear about what you want to achieve and how you’ll know when you’ve achieved it.

  • Who should you advocate to? Always try to advocate to the person who has direct responsibility for the problem or issue you face, this might include a particular Minister in government. Investigate the “chain of command”, or the different levels of decision-making related to the issue, to find out who to advocate to.

  • What are the barriers to success? Barriers might include a lack of knowledge about an issue, inexperience being assertive, discomfort with the English language, or challenges with reading or writing. Fear of judgment or retaliation can also be a barrier. Brainstorm ideas to eliminate or reduce these barriers.

What will you do if this plan doesn’t work out? It’s a good idea to plan for positive and negative outcomes. If your first try is unsuccessful, are there alternate solutions you are willing to explore? Are you willing to change your goals or try a new strategy? Could you advocate to different people or draw on different people or resources for support? Staying positive is important, and so is being prepared.

How we communicate our self-advocacy

We talk a lot elsewhere in the toolkit about communication styles and tools, but it can be helpful to think about tools specifically for how we advocate for ourselves.

As self-advocates, we need to be able to express our needs and rights in a way that leads to a helpful response and also keeps us safe. It can be helpful to think about what style of communication is likely to be effective as you advocate for your rights, especially if this is a communication style that you don’t usually use or find easy to do.

Five communication styles are:

A passive communication style: avoiding expressing opinions, feelings or needs, which may allow others to infringe on our rights.

An aggressive communication style: expressing opinions, feelings and needs in a way that promotes our own rights but disregards others’ rights.

A passive-aggressive communication style: appearing passive on the surface, but acting out anger behind-the-scenes, without clearly expressing our opinions, feeling or needs.

A manipulative communication style: trying to control others to our own advantage, for example, getting our needs met by making others feel guilty or sorry for us.

An assertive communication style: clearly stating opinions, feeling and needs, and advocating for rights while respecting other’s rights. Being assertive is most likely to facilitate a favourable response from those with the authority.

Are there times when I should not self-advocate?

Yes. Don’t self-advocate if:

  • you don’t feel safe

  • you’re too angry to be assertive instead of aggressive

There are many options for protecting your rights aside from self-advocacy.

Alternatives to Self-Advocacy

  • Ask a friend or family member to advocate on your behalf

  • Find an organisation with professional advocates who have experience related to your problem, such as the ICLC or ACON’s Care Coordination team

  • Start or participate in mutual aid efforts

  • Contact the office of your local council or state representative, or starting a campaign or letter writing campaign to them

  • Support or create a group that works to create progressive systemic change

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Special thanks to Trans Rights BC and the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre for their support in developing this page based on their Self Advocacy Guide. You can read the guide and the rest of Trans Rights BC here.