A top the staircase in our home in Ireland, there hung a canvased photo of our children running into the sea - the rolling atlantic mid-summer waves of Martinique Beach in Nova Scotia, to be exact. They were ages 4, 6 and 8 when the first photo was taken. Above the photo in captioned wall stencil read the words: 'Be your own kind of beautiful' Children are fearless. And full of wonder. This was the last image they'd see as they climbed the staircase on their way to bed. It wa

Wondering how you can support children across Canada who identify as transgender, gender diverse and make your country more inclusive? Want to be an ally of the LGBTQ2 community? Here's a super easy Citizen Challenge to support children and teens coast to coast. All in a quick but powerful click of your mouse... Here is a petition to ban conversion therapy on minors in Canada. Some provinces have already issued legislation to ban the harmful practice that involves trying to

Photographer|Mom|Ally-Awesome I knew she could shoot. Her photo essays and creative portraitures blew me away the first time I saw them. But Lyndsay Doyle is so much more. The universe, it does work in mysterious ways, and sometimes we're just destined to meet someone. Someone who will go out of their way to see us and help us be seen. Thanks Lyndsay for being apart of our journey. One that we're quietly sharing. Slowly. Thanks for your powerful words, citizenship and kindnes

In the early days, I used to I feel like I had fallen down the rabbit hole. In many ways, that is exactly what happened to us all. Each one of us began a journey that centred around one very important member of our family. And their journey was to be completely different from our own. But, we would need to be united if we were to survive the journey and thrive. I'm your average harried mother. Most days something surprises me on my calendar of life; juggling two jobs, extrac

On September 11th the Nova Scotia Department of Justice introduced some powerful legislation prohibiting the use of a discriminatory and harmful therapy that attempts to change the sexual orientation or gender identity 2SLGBTIQ+ youth and adolescents. Known as Reparative or Conversion Therapy, this harmful practice of trying to 'fix a person' identifying as transgender or gender non-conforming (GNC), has been proven to cause harm, disrespects a persons human rights and is qui

Owl Practice is making rainbow waves and meeting the Business Challenge in our Add a Box Campaign by adding Custom Gender Fields in their Client Profile intake. Read more here: As a therapist, you already know that it’s imperative to always treat your clients with the dignity and respect they deserve. By replacing the dropdown gender menu with a blank fillable field, you are able to include your client’s preferred pronouns and gender. #inclusionmatters #LGBTQ2 #genderdiversit

Canadian passports are more gender inclusive for trans and gender diverse people then our family realized. After months of debating whether to keep an 'F' gender designation on our 11-year-old sons passport, or go with the 'X' designation with an added 'Observation' card, there is an entire other option available to us - but, despite much research, we didn't know about it. Our passport options weren't looking ideal. Passport Canada's page states the following: Applicants mu

Welcome back learners. Backpacks...packed. Lunches...wrapped. Coffee...second round brewing. It's a new school year. A new beginning and a new chance for a great year ahead. Today I'm not thinking about my own Jr. High and High School kids. I'm thinking about Rose. My Jr. High kids start the day earlier than my High School age daughter. She gets to sleep in a whole extra hour, which helps scatter the school bus runs and keep the system flowing smoothly. It's all about the sy

Not FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. This one's for the eyes of parents and educators, and those speculating that gender non-conformity is trendy or phase-related, this one's for you: A 'REAL NEWS' piece worthy of quoting, worthy of sharing, released today by the Human Rights Commission on behalf of tens of thousands of licensed medical and mental health care professionals, educators, and advocates. "..research has clearly shown that these practices (of Conversion Therapy) pose devastati

I believe it's safe to say, there's something about going to the dentist that brings out the vulnerability in most of us. Today we switched dentists and it was all about feeling... less vulnerable. It was time for my family's yearly check-up and I just couldn't stomach going back to our old Dentist office since my youngest child transitioned last year. Our uber-friendly former Dentist office likes to record patients personal non-dental info - where we work, holiday's we've ta

Julian Paquette's editorial, 'Why 'they Matters', illustrates words are mightier than the sword and how, we as citizens yield that power, has a direct and profound affect on those around us. When a person ridicules or refuses to use someone's stated pronoun, this translates to the following: I don't respect you, I know better than you, you do not exist, you only exist on my terms, I tell you who you are. Perhaps the idea of 'they/their' seems foreign or awkward. Perhaps it