Two organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community in Newfoundland and Labrador are getting a funding boost from Ottawa.
The federal minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth of Canada, Marci Ien, was in the province Wednesday to announce the allotment of $1.6 million.
The money will be shared with two similar organizations in P.E.I.
Trans Support NL will receive more than $570,000 for their project, Trans Healthcare is Primary Healthcare: Gender Affirming Healthcare Settings Toolkit.
Logan St. Croix of Trans Support NL calls it a “huge gamechanger” for them.
(Logan St. Croix with Trans Support NL)
He says the organization is made up entirely of volunteers, and the funding will allow them to hire paid staff — not just in the St. John’s region but in rural areas as well.
He says those staff will work with healthcare providers to make their clinics more gender-affirming.
Quadrangle NL, meanwhile, will get $375,000 which, as Ailsa Craig explains, will help them expand their research to make sure it is data-driven, and looks at issues that are not just specific to St. John’s.
She says queer and trans-migration trends are shifting because of increased supports, noting more people are staying in the province.
(Ailsa Craig with Quadrangle NL)
