Victoria will spend up to $60,000 on a consultant to determine what has to be done for the city to be more inclusive of transgender, non-binary and two-spirit communities.
“This project is intended to improve the city’s capacity to integrate gender wellness into strategic planning, policy and program development, implementation and service delivery; and to support the transgender, non-binary and two-spirit communities to represent their interests in policies and programs that impact their well-being,” says a request for proposals on the city’s website.
The proposal call notes that city council, in 2017, made developing a transgender, non-binary and two-spirit inclusion policy a priority. The proposal is to “identify changes to ensure civic facilities, operations and programs are safe, inclusive and equitable for people of all genders, gender identities, gender expressions and their communities.”
The city has already appointed an ad-hoc advisory committee to assist with the process.
The consultant is to:
• Identify work completed, underway and/or planned by the city related to transgender, non-binary and two-spirit inclusion.
• Summarize leading practices from other jurisdictions and recommend practices that should be adopted by the city.
• Recommend and prioritize work needed to advance inclusion in signage and literature, public spaces, human resources training and staff policies, corporate programming, collaborative public and community partnerships (such as in housing, security), forms, records and instruments of data collection and management.
In 2017, staff undertook a number of actions related to inclusivity including training sessions for recreation employees on gender expression and identity as they relate to patrons using city facilities, signage updates to identify all-gender washrooms in public buildings, such as city hall, and updating customer service practices related to accessibility at the Crystal Pool and fitness Centre.
But in a report to councillors last year, staff said that a consultant would have to be hired in order to develop the comprehensive plan.
