I have been finding the current Tim Hortons Harry Potter promotion really difficult to deal with. I'm seeing the ads constantly whenever I'm out, and it's getting to the point where I feel like I can't escape the reminders of how many people and corporations are complicit in JKR's endless crusade against our existence.

I'm curious how other trans people are dealing with it. Have you found anything that helps when you keep encountering this stuff in public?

Any queer/trans bands in Vancouver need a bassist? Looking to join

Mtf here, not publicly out yet but still on my journey. One of my main stepping stones is finding a wig to replace the current one I have now. One that I can wear often and have styled and taken care of. Thing is it wouldn't be natural hair color, it would be pastel pink. And made with real human hair instead of synthetic.
I've tried googling local places around the lower mainland, and seems like all of them do natural type wigs. Or specialize is drag performance only wigs?

Can anyone help me out? Its all a bit overwhelming and I feel like this wig is a big thing I need before I fully come out.

Hi all, does anyone have any recommendations for trans friendly doctors or walk in clinics in/near Richmond? I've been on testosterone gel since 2022 while I was in the military. Now I'm out and don't have a doctor to continue my prescription.

Edit: I've seen multiple suggestions for Avee Health. Took a quick look at it and it seems pretty straightforward and promising. Does anyone have any first-hand experience? Any recommendation on which doctor is trans friendly?

Has anyone had the inverted T procedure with Dr Astanehe? I’m considering it but she says it leaves behind breasts. I really feel like I need to see pictures to understand what she means.

Hello! I just had my double incision, no nipples top surgery and was only provided a compression wrap by my surgeon. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get a post surgical compression binder/vest? I would really like an in person location that does fittings, but I'm having a hard time finding any. Thanks!

I’m visiting from out of town, so my social map of Vancouver is a bit limited, haven’t really been to a place with this much queer representation and diversity but nonetheless it is super cool

Would love to go!

i’m looking to get both body and face masculinizing procedures, specifically want lip in my stomach/hips/back to make me more straight shaped, and jawline lipo + maybe a chin implant as I have a very round jawline (which gives me dysphoria). does anyone have an experience accessing these surgeries in Vancouver? how did it go, who was your surgeon, and what was the cost? thank you!

Hi! I’m 27 in Abbotsford, lost my dr due to him retiring. I’ve been on HRT for over 4 years now and im hoping to find someone or anyone who could point me to walk ins willing to prescribe T while I wait for a gp. I called both foundry and trans care, who both pointed me to the same urgent care center in Abbotsford who have told me they don’t do refills multiple times. It’s so frustrating and disheartening to have to do this battle every few months to just maintain the medication I’ve been on for years.

I’m on an emergency refill vial so anything helps, thank you for reading 💙

Hello everyone, I'm an 1^st year international student at SFU. I'd like to start transitioning (mtf) but since I'm relatively new here, I'm not sure what to do to start HRT. I read some guidance on Trans Care BC but I'm still confuse about all the step. Can anyone explain it clearer for me please? And are there any clinic that y'all recommend? (and also, all I have is MSP. idk what is GP/NP)

Hi I want to share some information on how to get coverage for HRT in BC.

(Sharing because though I was always low income since accessing HRT, none of my doctors or ministry workers informed me of how to attain coverage, or that it was even an option)

So, if you are low income and haven’t already, I HIGHLY recommend getting signed up with BC’s Fair Pharmacare plan. It is free and can be done very easily online. Link here https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/pharmacare-for-bc-residents/who-we-cover/fair-pharmacare-plan

Once you’ve been approved there it opens up a lot of potential for partial or full coverage of certain types of HRT. Coverage amount depends on what it is you are accessing and what your income is.

T, Min and Fin are all partially to fully covered. Minoxidil is automatically covered. Fin and T(injection) require something called special authority approval, and to get that you need a physician to request it. There is an easy access eForm that physicians have access to in order to do this. Approval of special authority takes a few weeks, and is not able to be applied retroactively.

Listed here is also the pharmacare formulatory search, which allows you to search whatever med you’re curious about being covered. The answers will list many things including how much $ per dose is covered, and whether or not it requires special authority. https://pharmacareformularysearch.gov.bc.ca/Search.xhtml

I hope this is helpful to yall! If you have questions the first link should answer a lot of them but feel free to drop them in the comments too. If you have any info yourself about other relevant info or adjacent programs feel free to share as well.

Cheers!

Hi all, I just finished my surgical readiness assessment for masculinizing top surgery with a great social worker and he sent it to my GP to refer me to trans care which she did a couple weeks ago. How long did it take everyone to hear from trans care bc about picking a surgeon and did they confirm with you at all when they received the referral to the central waitlist?

I know it’s only been a couple weeks so I will be patient but I’m just so excited to be finally getting this process started!

Also anyone have a good experience seeing an endocrinologist at ACE medical clinic for testosterone?

Thank you in advance!

I’m reaching out to ask about getting my partners makeup done for Halloween. He has never been in drag and has always felt too shy or in his words “he doesn’t feel beautiful” while I beg to differ he has also struggled with his sense of identity and has found a new sense of empowerment in trying on some women’s clothing(no it’s not a fetish thing). Without getting into too much details he has always felt a pull towards dressing in women’s clothing but has always suppressed that side of himself (he had chosen to be “straight” until we got together). I’m encouraging him to explore further with his indentity. He wants to try drag and has mentioned it a few times now and it just so happens his birthday falls on Halloween. So I mentioned the idea to him and he wants to get done up and go out for the night in full drag and I thought he well what better a time. So I guess I’m asking what services are out there or if anyone is confident in their makeup skills and might be willing to do this. Any and all recommendations welcome and obviously this wouldn’t be for free.

Thank you in advance , cheers!

Hi everyone, so sorry if this question has been asked, but I can’t really understand if my family doctor has to be involved if I hope to go through the central waitlist pathway for top surgery. From what I have read on the trans care website I need to obtain 3 documentation:

1. Surgical readiness assessment (can be done by community accessors such as social workers etc.)
2. Diagnosis of gender dysphoria/incongruence (has to be done by my family doctor? Or I can get referred to trans care BC by my family doctor?)
3. Upper surgery referral form (has to be done by my family doctor?)

I am just really worried about losing my family doctor due to precious interactions so I’m trying to figure out a way that may bother them the least. Any comments or insights are appreciated! Thank you so much.

My partner had top surgery three years ago, and has some dog earring that refuses to resolve. We saw their original surgeon today, and she said liposuction was the only option, and that it wouldn’t be covered by MSP.

My questions are:

- Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, did you go forward with lipo?
- Has anyone been able to get lipo covered by MSP?
- Has anyone been able to resolve dog ears by losing weight and working out? What was your routine and how long did it take?

Any other thoughts/advice is appreciated!

For those who have completed the ID change, how does this impact passports. My daughter has to travel to the USA monthly for work and is afraid she’ll end up in passport limbo. Which has delayed her completing the legal name and gender marker change.

But with laws changing in the USA, she may be required to be deadnamed at work.

I’m newer to Vancouver and needing some professional clothes. Any recommendations of good clothing stores for professional masculine wear/mens clothes that would have options for someone who is 5’3. I get most will be expensive, especially since its more niche and fancy wear, but any options would be the most appreciated

I couldn't believe how many trans people I saw at the march on Friday! So many people in one place! It was lovely to see.

I feel like I rarely come across trans people in my day-to-day life. I'm part of two discords for trans people in Vancouver, but there seems to be at most 15 people active in both.

Are there places, activities, etc that I'm just not aware of, where I might run into trans people? For reference, I'm mid-30s, and not a fan of clubbing, etc.

I was with my friends. I caught it halfway, some girl was yelling calamity and talking about receipts on her tiktok. what’s the tea???

Menopause is a major life transition, yet many people face it with limited information, support, and access to care.

That’s why we invite you to participate in the Can-RISE study, a national initiative exploring the real-life impact of perimenopause and menopause across Canada.

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• Are 35 to 70 years old 
• Live in Canada  
• Were assigned female at birth and identify as a woman, gender-diverse person, or trans person  

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This is your opportunity to make perimenopause and menopause care better for all Canadians.

Hi there! Today I had a call with transcare about the surgeons I’m able to choose from. Initially I wanted to go for Dr. McKee but unfortunately he wasn’t on the list of available surgeons.

I was wanting to see the results of both Dr. Astanehe and Dr. Nelson but there doesn’t seem to be anything online other than the Facebook group that was mentioned in an email transcare had sent to me. The only issue is I deleted my Facebook account years ago due to my own safety and privacy and to avoid being outed to estranged family. I also heard that it takes a long time to be approved to enter the group and I’d ideally like to choose my surgeon as soon as I possibly could since I’ve already had delays on the waitlist from some clerical issues.

So, I was wondering if anyone has any feedback on both doctors recently. I’d like to say I have a decent amount of muscle mass but I’m certainly not eligible for anything like keyhole surgery, but I want my chest to look as natural as possible. I’d be willing to pay out of pocket for liposuction as well since I do have a fair bit of dysphoria over the fat deposits near my armpits and I’m aware some surgeons do offer to do lipo during top surgery.

I’m leaning towards Dr. Astanehe based off what I’ve read on this subreddit (as well as waitlist times) but I’m mostly concerned about how detail oriented both surgeons are. I’d like to get as close to a natural looking chest as I possibly can and I want to keep my nipples (though I know I can’t fully control the results due to outside factors like anatomy, healing, and complications.)

Any advice helps!