Protest of Lu Pharmacy
Queen Emily posted about Lu’s Pharmacy, a pharmacy that’s only for cis women (or the trans misogynist dogwhistle, “women born womeny”) on Feministe:
Did you know there’s a women-only pharmacist in Vancouver? It opened yesterday. Only, “women’s only,” doesn’t mean all women. A number of bloggers have been posting about how this new pharmacy has from its birth held onto some old prejudices – excluding trans women from access to its services.
What the pharamacy is supposed to do is this:
Caryn Duncan, executive director of Vancouver Women’s Health Collective, said a lot of women told her they do not go to pharmacies in the troubled neighbourhood [Vancouver's Downtown Eastside] because many of them focus on dispensing methadone to heroin addicts.
“Women felt, ‘I want a woman pharmacist. I want to know that when I walk in the door, I’m going to be getting sound women-centred care from a pharmacist. I can talk to her about emergency contraception or a vaginal infection, something that is very personal and intimate,’” said Duncan
Ok, that sounds alright to me. So why exclude trans women? We don’t have personal and intimate needs? WE don’t need protection?
More at Feministe, of course.
Helen G posted more at Bird of Paradox:
Vancouver Women’s Health Collective has just opened a new pharmacy called Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women which claims to offer a “full-service pharmacy” as well as “advice on your medication and your healthcare”. (Via VWHC website – Lu’s Services)The website continues:
By opening a women’s pharmacy, the VWHC is once again providing health care services to women along with health information and our continued advocacy work, from a model that is informed by a feminist perspective. We know that women are still underserved by the current health care model, and we know that certain women face considerable barriers to accessing quality health care, which include poverty, addiction, racism, and sexism, among others. We see Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women as a unique opportunity to organize in a new way, by bringing together health care professionals both traditional and holistic (in the form of pharmacists, doctors, and holistic practitioners), volunteers, community activists, and community members in one space.
(Via VWHC website – A Brief History of Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women)
Which all sounds great. A much-needed resource offering access to “quality health care, which include poverty, addiction, racism, and sexism, among others”. A laudable aim, unquestionably.
However, according to The Vancouver Courier (link here):
Starting Tuesday, any woman who was born a woman can visit the pharmacy to have prescriptions filled.
It’s unclear where the phrase “any woman who was born a woman” has come from – The Vancouver Courier is the only source I have seen which uses the term explicitly; note that the VWHC website (link here) refers simply to “women”. Not “womyn born womyn”, and not “self identified women”; just “women”. The contact page of the VWHC website (link here) states that “our Centre is a space for women only”.
However, history has shown us many times that the default meaning of “women” is, in reality, “cis women”, so the use of “women” is a cause for concern if trans women are likely to be excluded.
Today, some women (both cis and trans) protested the pharmacy, and a trans woman was going to attempt to fill a prescription at Lu’s Pharmacy, but apparently it was more important to keep trans women out of this space than it was to attempt to serve the any women at all.
Transgender protesters bring positive message to Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women
Approximately two dozen transgender women and their supporters held a protest this morning (July 11) outside Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women.Earlier this week, the Georgia Straight reported that the Vancouver Women’s Health Collective, which owns Lu’s, will not allow transgender women to be served. The executive director, Caryn Duncan, said at the time that Lu’s would be for “women born women”.
The protest leader, Elizabeth Marston, urged members of the crowd to stick “prescriptions for change” on the window of the pharmacy, which was closed. They included words like “inclusion”, “equality”, “love”, and “diversity”.
“Some of the most vulnerable women in this neighbourhood have been discriminated against and are going to be discriminated against by the policy of Lu’s,” Marston said. “The women who need health care the most are often the ones that are in the most vulnerable situations and often, thanks to transphobia, that’s trans women.”
Jamie Lee Hamilton told the Straight that she planned to bring her prescription into the pharmacy this morning. However, she couldn’t do this because it was closed.
“I guess they realize it was maybe too much of a political event and they didn’t want to be seen in that light,” Hamilton said. “I guess I’ll just have to come back on Monday with my prescription quietly.”
She added that if Lu’s doesn’t fill the prescription, she will file a complaint with the Pivot Legal Society and with the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia.
On July 10, the college’s spokesperson, Lori DeCou, told the Straight that she doesn’t think the profession’s code of ethics permits a pharmacist to discriminate on the basis of gender.
However, she added that this issue could only way to know this would be if somebody filed a complaint.
Also, Holly pointed out on Feministe that the pharmacy’s intentions are more problematic than initially thought:
A couple of the linked blogs also pointed out something that bears repeating: this pharmacy has also established itself as wanting to help “women” without “women” having to encounter drug addicts or sex workers. In other words, women with chemical dependencies and women who do sex work are not “women” of the kind that the pharmacy wants to serve either — despite the obvious and pressing needs of those women, in this area of Vancouver. They want to be a pharmacy for “nice women” — no druggies, no trannies, no hookers. That’s a great mission statement right there — provide for “women” with one hand, and hold a big fat “NOT YOU, YOU’RE NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF WOMEN” sign in the other. There are all sorts of reasons that we “wrong women” ought to be banding together to oppose this kind of patronizing, essentialist, racist, classist, sex-worker-bashing, transphobic bullshit.
This article in The Province provides more details (emphasis mine):
A pharmacy focused solely on women’s needs is scheduled to open in the Downtown Eastside next month.
Lu’s: A Pharmacy for Women will serve female clients uncomfortable at the existing 19 licensed pharmacies in the Downtown Eastside. Those small pharmacies provide daily methadone to 1,400 heroin addicts, of whom about 500 are female.
The implication is subtle, and it’s difficult to tell if the problem is that some women are comfortable around drug users and want a space away from all of them, or if the problem is that women who are drug users and need methadone are uncomfortable at those 19 licensed pharmacies. So I guess the question is: Does Lu’s provide daily methadone?
This part as well:
There are several women-based Downtown Eastside non-profits offering a range of services, including shelter beds and outreach and sex-worker support — but no pharmacy.
The largest of the women’s groups is the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, while the United Church operates a women-only drop-in facility and Bridge Housing Society runs a women’s-only shelter that is much prized by marginalized women in the community. There are also three agencies offering help specifically for sex workers.
Duncan supports diversity of services in the Downtown Eastside because of the nature of the community. She said some marginalized women who are not sex workers will not use services that may imply they are in the sex industry.
Again, kind of ambiguously worded. Is this pharmacy’s services available to sex workers, or is the point of the pharmacy to provide women who aren’t sex workers a place to go where they can make use of certain services without the implication that they’re sex workers. I mean, I think it’s important for women (trans and cis) to be able to access needed services without being judged for seeking them, but at the same time I get a very strong “but sex workers already have services here” sense from this passage.
This strikes me as another instance in which trans women’s needs and safety are sacrificed for the comfort of cis women. That somehow, being trans means our own experiences of misogyny and sexism are not really as important, just as when we’re raped it’s not as bad as when cis women are raped – seriously, an allegedly feminist website aimed at helping rape survivors spends that many links defending their decision to exclude a trans woman, and crowing about their supposed victory for women-only space, and I’ve had one VRR volunteer have the gall to claim to my [internet] face that she was a trans ally, and that excluding trans women was necessary for the safety and comfort of cis women in the shelter. And Lu’s pharmacy is trying to build their policy on this foundation.
If you’re going to comment about how trans women’s health needs are from outer space, I’ll either delete the comment or replace it with pictures of pandas (taking a page from Queen Emily). If you really believe trans women’s needs are so strange as to require special training beyond “treat them with the same dignity you accord cis women, and don’t deny their womanhood” then you need to do some research.
Kristen J. adds more context on Feministe:
I think article helps to explain part of what is going on here. Its class warfare of the ugliest and hateful-est kind. Gentrification driven by the 2010 Olympics. Good times, good times.
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/909
To keep up with information and protests, local protesters have created this Facebook group. Gudbuytjane is also keeping track of developments on Livejournal.
Gudbuytjane added this in the comments, and if you want to participate in activism about this, you need to read it:
I’d really like the AROOO digression to stop here, though.
Thank you, Lisa!
On topic:
The Vancouver Sun has an article on their website about the protest (note: the comments section is pretty gross, as one might expect with a mainstream daily). There was quite a lot of mainstream media present, but I haven’t seen much of the other coverage yet. I’ll add links when I find them.
Allison Hamilton, a 39 year-old transgendered woman, said there are different “views” held by women in the collective.
Mental note: Remember, mainstream reporters are going to struggle with nuanced concepts of gender and disagreements within feminism, and probably quote you in a way that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. *facepalm* Ohwell, the reporter seemed nice and was trying to understand, but I think this is maybe the advanced class and he needed 101. I will email him a follow-up to explain some concepts more clearly, in case he writes more on the protests.
An important part of this discussion is the intersection of class, poverty, and race as well as being trans. Part of what the failure on the part of the pharmacy is not just denying services to trans women, but that they have come into the neighbourhood from outside and told residents how things are going to be. I worked in the DTES for many years in community-led job training, and it is important to remember not just that this is Canada’s poorest postal code, but that (I would imagine) most of us don’t live there.
The DTES is often overrun with well-paid ‘poverty advocates’ creating a seemingly endless stream of studies on poverty in the neighbourhood, while successful (for residents) programs and initiatives lose funding because they don’t meet the funding bodies’ requirements for “success.” Government promises for public housing have been broken (the Woodward’s building betrayal a prime example. It had been bought by the city for social housing, but is now a condo development with no social housing units at all), and police and private security routinely harrass people in the neighbourhood. Residents are thus rightly suspicious of government/academic/activist ’solutions’ coming from outside.
So I’d suggest we keep that in mind, otherwise we risk being another group of middle class people from outside the neighbourhood (and in relation to the DTES, if you have access to the internet, etc., it’s probably accurate to call yourself middle class) who are using the DTES as a place to debate with other middle class people not from the neighbourhood while ignoring the voices of those who live there.
I was impressed that this is understood by the Femininjas (who organized the protest, and did an awesome job of it. I was glad to meet y’all yesterday!). They are actively working at ensuring inclusion of residents to drive the protests, and finding offline ways to communicate the issue.
Keep in mind that while this is part of the debate of a larger-reaching concept – the inclusion of trans women in cis women’s spaces – the lived reality of a community of people who are often used as statistics or anecdotes to further external agendas. The primary purpose of this protest and in seeking inclusion at the pharmacy should be to improve the lives and experiences of the residents.
Also important to remember, especially as the DTES has such a high percentage of residents who are of First Nations ancestry, is that Vancouver as a whole is on unceded Coast Salish territory, so show respect (i.e. if you’re one of those white folks who like to tell First Nations people how you feel like you’re two-spirited or that you really relate to their spirituality you’ll probably sound like a colonizing asshole, just saying)
Short version: Keep the signal boosted about this, but remember to show respect and acknowledge than many of the women directly affected won’t be reading your blog, internet forum, etc. Keep in mind that compared to residents of the DTES we are very privileged in that we can have this conversation in comment boxes.
With a bridge on my back points out:
Yes. I cant also help but note that the legacy of violence against indigenous people in the area seems to not even have been noted by most of the outsiders debating this issue. Where does Lu’s ‘nice cis women’ policy fit within the context of this kind of violence towards indigenous women, cis or trans?
From the linked article:
We are writing to you today to demand a full public Inquiry into the ongoing issue of murdered and missing women from aboriginal communities, in particular surrounding the murdered women in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver and the missing and murdered women who have disappeared along the “Highway of Tears” in northern British Columbia.
The aboriginal community and the community at large has heard many public statements from Attorney General Wally Oppal and spokespeople for him concerning the potential for a public Inquiry into the murdered and missing women of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. On multiple occasions, he or his spokespeople have suggested that those concerned with this issue must wait for the criminal trial of Robert Pickton to finish before the government is able to publicly inquire into the lack of response of police to missing person reports in that neighbourhood.
The first and only expected trial of Robert Pickton is now complete. We understand that the matter is now under appeal and is expected to be heard in March at the B.C. Court of Appeal. We understand further that, following this hearing and the judgment of the Court, it is quite likely that the matter will be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The case, at any of these levels, may be sent back for trial again, and that trial may be appealed again. Given the frailty of human memories, the loss or destruction of relevant evidence with time, and the retirement or death of key witnesses, both of our organizations share an equal concern about this approach taken by the Provincial government. It is inappropriate to ask the aboriginal community to wait for years to have these matters publicly discussed and rectified based solely on government speculation that a public Inquiry could affect issues on appeal or at a second trial.
And I do think someone (gudbuytjane?) did bring up that a lot of indigenous people live in the area, and the ways organizations that set up in DTES help or fail to to help them, but I don’t recall correctly. I didn’t point it out, and very little of the discussion has so far.
It does strike me that Lu’s: A Pharmacy For Women’s policy doesn’t really discuss in much depth the kinds of oppression that play out in DTES against women marginalized in other ways. They exclude trans women, and talk about women who don’t want to be associated with sex workers or drug users, but how does race fit into their policies? Indigenous women in BC face formidable barriers to receiving respectful, timely, and effective health care. Vancouver Women’s Health Collective (the organization behind Lu’s Pharmacy) acknowledges these difficulties, but do they create an atmosphere in which indigenous women feel welcomed?
And I can’t make assumptions here, but I know, when I read about any particular group of women not being served well in any context, my immediate first thought is “I wonder whether they bother with trans women?” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask “if they’re this quick to take a prejudiced view of trans women, how do they deal with race?” And what about indigenous trans women? Denied care for being trans in addition to the aforementioned barriers?
To state the overly obvious, that’s fucked up.
*is waiting for the cis apologists to come out of the woodwork and explain how they ‘really don’t mean it like THAT because they’re TRYING’ and we’re ‘being too hard on them for providing a much-needed service’*
MTG
July 11, 2009 at 5:45 pm
They’re not trying at all.
Oh, I mean they’re trying to service some women, but at the expense of others.
Also, they have come out on the Feministing and Feministe posts, although the latter is moderated a bit more heavily, so you see fewer of the problematic comments. One poster (who asked Queen Em if she wanted a pill to cure being trans on her intro thread) made several inappropriate and moderated comments, and then flounced because he felt like he had a sock stuffed in his mouth…yeah.
Lisa Harney
July 11, 2009 at 5:48 pm
The cis apologists aren’t going to explain they “really don’t mean it like THAT” because they really DO mean it like that. See the hate in the comments to the Georgia Straight article that talked about the protest plans:
http://www.straight.com/article-239955/transgender-rights-activists-protest-ban-downtown-eastside-pharmacy
Erin J Graham and “menstruatingdifferences” sing the same old tired-out discredited women-born-women song.
The only good thing about this situation is that the other 7 comments are trans-positive. (I don’t count Mama Rose Ninja because that’s me.)
Jessica
July 11, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Oh, they’re trying. They’re trying to openly exclude trans women, trying to change the pitch of the tune they sing to make it sound just a wee bit different than the same old song, and they are themselves quite trying in general.
algormortis
July 11, 2009 at 8:22 pm
also, in case you had any doubt they meant it like that, AROOO linked to that post making it -very- clear what -they- meant.
belledame222
July 11, 2009 at 8:28 pm
AROOO is so full of hate speech that it amazes me that any serious feminist could give their views any credence.
I’d have to go look to see if any serious feminists have commented there lately. Only one I can think of is Daisy. Everyone else is throwing a privilege pity party or bashing each other.
Or maybe talking about killing assigned male infants.
Lisa Harney
July 11, 2009 at 8:37 pm
what is arooo?
z
July 11, 2009 at 9:16 pm
It’s a
radicaltypicalfeministhate speech blog, hosted by E Kitty Glendower and Margaret Jameson, and I think Nick Chaleunphone hangs out there because they luff his transphobic stylings.I’d really like the AROOO digression to stop here, though. I gave in to it, but this is about the how trans women are excluded from Lu’s Pharmacy, not how some willfully ignorant wannabe feminists are mired in prejudiced category errors.
Lisa Harney
July 11, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I had to follow the arooo connection, and they say it all in the comment section:
(By Melim)
>> – and shouldn’t feminism be doing better?
> Probably, but not for YOU.
But when I look arround in the blog I think the problem of the people there is not only mysogny or transphobia. Its misanthrope
Bad Hair Days
July 12, 2009 at 3:04 am
I about lost my head when I read the “bleeding” comment, and if I think about it anymore, I WILL explode.
I work in a pharmacy school at one of the larger research universities. Let’s just say I see a need for pharmacies staffed by caring, kind and knowledgeable professionals.
This statement of Marston’s really hit home for me:
“The women who need health care the most are often the ones that are in the most vulnerable situations and often, thanks to transphobia, that’s trans women.”
The idea of a “wrong” kind of woman just galls me. Why do other cis feminists constantly insist on “shielding” me from OTHER FREAKING WOMEN. I’m angry at the presumption that fake-ass, exclusionary “women’s only” spaces are somehow maintained for my own good. No, they’re just hurting people, but thanks for trying to use my best interests as an excuse for your jacked up bigotry.
My personal issues with access to and comfort with female-oriented healthcare center around the moral judgments of healthcare professionals. And I benefit from cis privilege, so I can only imagine the hell other women go through. Why can’t everyone have a safe place? Why can’t we share pharmacies like this? What the hell is so “uncomfortable” about that???
When people need medicine, they need medicine, and everyone deserves to get it from courteous and concerned professionals who genuinely care about our health and comfort. Holding back medication, information and support from some of the most marginalized women in our society is not feminist. I want to cry right now. I just can’t stand the idea of someone not being able to fill a prescription for something they need. Gah.
Samia
July 12, 2009 at 8:13 am
I meant to say *one of the larger research universities in the American South. Sorry!
Samia
July 12, 2009 at 8:15 am
I wrote a piece on the stupidity of the phrase “women born women”
http://womenborntranssexual.com/2009/07/09/the-stupidity-of-the-phrase-women-born-women/
I personally believe a phrase women born female would be far more accurate.
WBT was based on our being born originally transsexual but that also leads to women born transgender.
I too have faced pharmacists who have refused to fill hormone prescriptions based on bigotry.
Suzan
July 12, 2009 at 9:35 am
I’d really like the AROOO digression to stop here, though.
Thank you, Lisa!
On topic:
The Vancouver Sun has an article on their website about the protest (note: the comments section is pretty gross, as one might expect with a mainstream daily). There was quite a lot of mainstream media present, but I haven’t seen much of the other coverage yet. I’ll add links when I find them.
Allison Hamilton, a 39 year-old transgendered woman, said there are different “views” held by women in the collective.
Mental note: Remember, mainstream reporters are going to struggle with nuanced concepts of gender and disagreements within feminism, and probably quote you in a way that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. *facepalm* Ohwell, the reporter seemed nice and was trying to understand, but I think this is maybe the advanced class and he needed 101. I will email him a follow-up to explain some concepts more clearly, in case he writes more on the protests.
An important part of this discussion is the intersection of class, poverty, and race as well as being trans. Part of what the failure on the part of the pharmacy is not just denying services to trans women, but that they have come into the neighbourhood from outside and told residents how things are going to be. I worked in the DTES for many years in community-led job training, and it is important to remember not just that this is Canada’s poorest postal code, but that (I would imagine) most of us don’t live there.
The DTES is often overrun with well-paid ‘poverty advocates’ creating a seemingly endless stream of studies on poverty in the neighbourhood, while successful (for residents) programs and initiatives lose funding because they don’t meet the funding bodies’ requirements for “success.” Government promises for public housing have been broken (the Woodward’s building betrayal a prime example. It had been bought by the city for social housing, but is now a condo development with no social housing units at all), and police and private security routinely harrass people in the neighbourhood. Residents are thus rightly suspicious of government/academic/activist ’solutions’ coming from outside.
So I’d suggest we keep that in mind, otherwise we risk being another group of middle class people from outside the neighbourhood (and in relation to the DTES, if you have access to the internet, etc., it’s probably accurate to call yourself middle class) who are using the DTES as a place to debate with other middle class people not from the neighbourhood while ignoring the voices of those who live there.
I was impressed that this is understood by the Femininjas (who organized the protest, and did an awesome job of it. I was glad to meet y’all yesterday!). They are actively working at ensuring inclusion of residents to drive the protests, and finding offline ways to communicate the issue.
Keep in mind that while this is part of the debate of a larger-reaching concept – the inclusion of trans women in cis women’s spaces – the lived reality of a community of people who are often used as statistics or anecdotes to further external agendas. The primary purpose of this protest and in seeking inclusion at the pharmacy should be to improve the lives and experiences of the residents.
Also important to remember, especially as the DTES has such a high percentage of residents who are of First Nations ancestry, is that Vancouver as a whole is on unceded Coast Salish territory, so show respect (i.e. if you’re one of those white folks who like to tell First Nations people how you feel like you’re two-spirited or that you really relate to their spirituality you’ll probably sound like a colonizing asshole, just saying)
Short version: Keep the signal boosted about this, but remember to show respect and acknowledge than many of the women directly affected won’t be reading your blog, internet forum, etc. Keep in mind that compared to residents of the DTES we are very privileged in that we can have this conversation in comment boxes.
gudbuytjane
July 12, 2009 at 10:28 am
Oy, I’m verbose. This comment will be much shorter.
Much kudos and respect for A from the Femininjas who, while being pestered by the media (who surprise surprise seemed to have a lot of trouble grasping any gender presentation out of the binary) was asked “what were you born as?” She responded with a brilliantly incredulous look: “A baby.”
gudbuytjane
July 12, 2009 at 10:40 am
She responded with a brilliantly incredulous look: “A baby.”
Oh, beautiful!
Jennifer
July 12, 2009 at 10:52 am
Sure there are 5 million (give or take) other pharmacies in the world (as Tamara said in her long rant of unconscious privilege). But when most of them refuse to fill a prescription for 17-beta-estradiol or for spironolactone for a person with a “M” mark on their id card, or refuse to serve at all a person with a name like “Katherine” who has an “M” mark, the options dry up fast. Looking at Vancouver, metaphorically at least, from across the border, I can only wonder how the US – or at least my part of it (Minneapolis, MN) – manages to be more inclusive than Canada – or at least Vancouver.
Katie
July 12, 2009 at 10:59 am
thanks for the context.
and A for the phrase “women-born-babies” !!!
Estrobutch
July 12, 2009 at 11:32 am
“A baby.” That’s beautiful. (And it got respect from my Mom when I quoted it to her; she agreed that it affirmed everything worth affirming to strangers.)
Gudbuytjane, there’s being verbose and there’s taking the time to explain important things clearly. I read your long post as the latter, and appreciate the hell out of it.
Ceri B.
July 12, 2009 at 11:56 am
Thank you for updates, gudbuytjane.
I think you make a valuable point about middle class white people walking into this and proclaiming what’s best. That’s part of the reason why I was cautious about stepping in (that and NOWHC), but it was hard not to with the stuff being said.
Lisa Harney
July 12, 2009 at 6:36 pm
@Katie: I fill my hormone prescriptions at London Drugs in the middle of downtown Vancouver. They have never been anything but courteous and respectful. In the city, even in the ‘burbs, I have a hard time imagining not being able to fill my prescriptions at any pharmacy — except maybe at Lu’s.
Véronique
July 12, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I personally haven’t heard about many trans people who haven’t been able to fill their prescriptions at pharmacies (in the US), although I have heard of a lot of trans people who have been disrespected badly and insultingly when trying to do so.
I think the point of this pharmacy is that it’s supposed to provide a space where women are treated with respect when filling their prescriptions, and the problem is that said pharmacy’s policies say that some women are not worthy of that kind of respect. That the commenter said there were all these other pharmacies that would fill trans women’s prescriptions missed the point – all these other pharmacies would fill cis women’s prescriptions too. The problem is that women (cis or trans) cannot expect to be treated with respect.
But per Lu’s, only some women are worthy of respect.
Anyway, I also want to reiterate that the women in Vancouver who are responding to Lu’s policy and protesting it need to be centered in the conversation. We can talk about what’s happening, but it’s really up to them to make the decisions and take the actions.
Lisa Harney
July 12, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Hi Lisa. I have wonder about the premise that women are treated with disrespect at other pharmacies in Greater Vancouver, so I question the need for Lu’s at all. Has this disrespect been documented? All the pharmacies I’ve dealt with have behaved in a professional manner. And my Care Card (insurance) record says “M.”
Sorry if this is off topic. Your choice whether to publish or not.
Véronique
July 12, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I’m sorry, I meant sexism.
Plus, the services are aimed at women in the poorest part of Vancouver, and you get to throw in classism, racism, etc. I’m hoping that Lu’s is prepared to not propagate those as well.
Lisa Harney
July 12, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Especially given that they’re placing themselves in a position to serve [cis] women in a really poor part of Vancouver.
Lisa Harney
July 12, 2009 at 8:35 pm
@Lisa
Anyway, I also want to reiterate that the women in Vancouver who are responding to Lu’s policy and protesting it need to be centered in the conversation. We can talk about what’s happening, but it’s really up to them to make the decisions and take the actions.
I think this is so important, even as someone in Vancouver, having worked in the neighbourhood, and still having ties there, I am very conscious of not wanting to drown out the voices of women who live in the neighbourhood. On the flip side to that, one of the reasons I am glad to see people like the Femininjas organizing and being active on this issue is that I recognized most of the people who were at the protest from other (non-trans-specific/related) actions and marches in the DTES.
I think the caution in the wake of NOWHC is perfectly understandable, but I think there is a different dynamic in this situation. This is an org who very clearly, and based on a conscious political choice rooted in the transphobic feminist ideology of people like Janice Raymond, are discriminating against trans women.
The strength of the position of trans women in opposing this policy of VWHC is that there seems to be broad community support in women’s orgs in the neighbourhood for inclusion (versus, say, eight years ago during the Kim Nixon trial with VRR). Caryn Duncan’s “groundswell of support” is a myth, or perhaps was only gauged during a VWHC board members meeting. I’ve been in contact with people I know at a number of orgs, and I know ED’s from a couple of them have been on the phone with Caryn Duncan trying to impress on her how important an inclusive pharmacy is to them. I can’t give any other details right now as I’ve been asked to keep some things confidential for the time being, but I am hopeful we’ll see some public statements from some organizations.
Also, unlike in the US, this is a non-profit health organization that, while not flush in cash, is receiving public and private money to operate. Through the front window the place looked pretty nice with its UBC architecture student-designed interiors. One point I’ve seen people bring up to derail has been the “well, it’s their store and they can do as they wish,” but this is a nonprofit in Canada: public money went to and is continuing going to this organization. Large private donations have been made by organizations such as VanCity credit union ($50,000 at least in the public record), who donate to many social causes and appear not to have been told of the WBW policy. This isn’t VHWC setting up a private store with their own money. And even if they did, Canada is a different place (I really need to finish my educational pamphlet Canada: It’s a Whole Other Country!), and issues like the college of pharmacists and ethics come up.
Nonetheless, things are happening, and a community-led response is coming together. Even if VWHC takes their ball and goes home rather than play nice with the trans women, I think the strength of the relationships made in opposition to the policy will have benefits for all women doing activism in the DTES.
I think the response from folks outside of Vancouver has been largely really good (and thank you for your comments on articles at the Georgia Strait and such, Lisa, they have been invaluable in explaining why this is a bad move by VWHC), and people are at least trying to understand the intersections.
Personally I am trying to ensure I contextualize my writing in the neighbourhood and the challenges residents face. I could hop on my bike and be in the DTES in about five minutes, but really I live a world away, and so do most people in Vancouver. Lu’s Pharmacy adds another shovelful on the big pile of regressive feminist BS about trans women, sure, but that is an abstract thing compared to the reality of living in the DTES and seeking respectful services as a trans woman. We often complain that ‘theory < lived experience,' so I suppose I'm just trying to remind myself which side of the greater-than symbol I am on in this case.
gudbuytjane
July 13, 2009 at 6:57 am
Got your comment out of the spam trap, gudbuytjane.
Lisa Harney
July 13, 2009 at 7:49 am
@Lisa
I don’t blame the spam trap, I sure do go on sometimes… ;)
gudbuytjane
July 13, 2009 at 8:15 am
Thank you for all of this gudbuytjane.
rioTgirl
July 13, 2009 at 12:34 pm
@rioTgirl
Thank you!
I’ve written the CEO of Vancity Credit Union, who funded the pharmacy’s construction with at least a $50,000 grant. I can only hope this corporation who prides themselves on being green and progressive weren’t told of this discriminatory policy: http://gudbuytjane.livejournal.com/13387.html
If you have friends or relatives in Vancouver please let them know.
gudbuytjane
July 14, 2009 at 9:08 am
i never knew there were “women who were born women”.
sounds pretty painful for the mother giving birth, no?!
Lisa
July 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm
“the women in Vancouver who are responding to Lu’s policy and protesting it need to be centered in the conversation.”
Yes. I cant also help but note that the legacy of violence against indigenous people in the area seems to not even have been noted by most of the outsiders debating this issue. Where does Lu’s ‘nice cis women’ policy fit within the context of this kind of violence towards indigenous women, cis or trans?
With a bridge on my back
July 16, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Thank you for that. I admit, I wasn’t aware of it, but it’s an obvious question that should have been asked. I’m not excluding myself from that.
Lisa Harney
July 16, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Its typical of the way issues affecting women of color are left out of a debate that is supposed to be about the needs of ‘all women.’
With a bridge on my back
July 16, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I know that pain, I spend a lot of time dealing with how issues affecting trans women are left out of debates that are supposed to be about the needs of all women. It’s easy to focus on one and miss the other.
That doesn’t excuse making mistakes the other way, though. I’ll add your link with credit to the post.
Lisa Harney
July 16, 2009 at 4:19 pm
@With a bridge on my back
Thank you for bringing this up. I have always wondered why the Picton trial and the years of missing women in the downtown east side has not been examined more closely by feminist bloggers outside of Vancouver. It is a staggering indictment of the racism, classism, and sexism of the Vancouver Police Department, City Hall, and a mainstream media who only picked up the story once it had an exploitative serial killer angle. With 2010 coming up I can’t imagine that getting better (and I’ve heard that the city might not give a permit to the Women’s Memorial March next year, as it falls during the Olympics).
gudbuytjane
July 16, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Post edited. I hope the addition works. So far no one’s said anything about racism at VHWC or Lu’s, but I can’t find much where VHWC specifically addresses what needs to be done to make health care accessible to indigenous women, simply that indigenous women have a hard time finding good, respectful medical care.
(I don’t need cookies, but if I screwed up, please say)
Lisa Harney
July 16, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Thx for the addition, Lisa. I really know nothing about Lu’s besides what I have read on websites over the last day or two. It is possible they are wonderful to indigenous women. I was just struck by seeing this debate go down this way. Never been vancouver or canada so its just frustrating to me that no one closer to the ground could bring this up.
@gudbuytjane: it’s not surprising at all; issues facing indigenous people just dont matter to a lot of so-called ‘progressives’.
With a bridge on my back
July 16, 2009 at 10:42 pm
It’s a fair point, though – I would like to believe that VHWC and Lu’s Pharmacy is doing everything they can to provide health care to indiginous [cis] women. But even if they are, they’re excluding indiginous trans women with their policies, and it’s not as if they’re having an easy time finding health care, either.
At least VHWC acknowledge the difficulties on their website.
Lisa Harney
July 16, 2009 at 10:47 pm
[...] Vancouver “women’s” clinic is defining “woman” pretty narrowly. I’m wondering who their target audience even IS. Also, a [...]
Links of Great Interest 7/17/09 | the Hathor Legacy
July 17, 2009 at 7:41 am
[...] Vancouver feminists open “no trans women allowed” pharmacy. Aaaargh. [...]
Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » Link Farm and Open Thread, Ithaca Edition
July 20, 2009 at 12:14 am
????????????????????????????????????
It’s a fair point, though – I would like to believe that VHWC and Lu’s Pharmacy is doing everything they can to provide health care to indiginous [cis] women. But even if they are, they’re excluding indiginous trans women with their policies, and it’s not as if they’re having an easy time finding health care, either.
infopharms
July 29, 2009 at 5:59 am
If they are excluding women who are trans then they are not including all indigenous women either. Because some women are indigenous and trans.
get it???????????????????????
Estrobutch
July 29, 2009 at 8:52 pm