Posted February 05, 2018 07:03:28 The 17-year-old transgender teen whose life was turned upside down after the onset of puberty is back at home after a six-week stay in a women’s facility.
“I feel really lucky to be here.
I feel like my mom is happy,” said Sarah Hagen, who asked to be identified by only her first name.
“We’ve been working really hard.
We’ve got all the stuff that we need.”
Sarah, who was born with a penis, has been in and out of a male sex change clinic in the past.
The teen is one of more than 1,000 transgender people in Ontario who are eligible for treatment through the province’s gender transition services.
She was referred to a women at-risk facility for an initial six weeks.
But when she was discharged in March, the facility abruptly cut her off.
Sarah said she was not allowed to leave until the facility agreed to a new plan to keep her on hormones, to continue with her transition and to pay her for all her medical costs.
“They were just like, ‘Well, what do you want?’
And I was like, you know, ‘No, I’m not going to do that.’
I just wanted to get back to being my authentic self and just kind of go to my mother’s side.”
Sarah said the hospital also refused to accept the fact that Sarah was a transgender girl.
“All they would say is that my mom doesn’t know what I am,” she said.
Sarah is now back at her parents’ home in Richmond Hill, Ont., where she says her family and friends have helped her navigate the system.
“There’s definitely a stigma in our community that we’re not really welcome here, that we don’t really fit in,” she explained.
“But I’m really happy, it feels like home.”
Sarah is just one of thousands of transgender people across Canada who are still living with stigma and discrimination.
About 15 per cent of transgender adults in Canada are living in poverty, according to a 2015 study by the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.
In Ontario, that number is about 15 per in the province, according the province.
In the last year, the number of transgender youth in Ontario rose from about 100 in the early 2000s to almost 1,100 by 2015.
That has resulted in a significant increase in bullying, harassment and even violence against transgender people, according a report released by the Human Rights Commission of Ontario.
The transgender youth and youth of color have also been disproportionately affected by the lack of safe spaces, and the social and physical isolation experienced by them.
“If you think about what transgender people are saying, we are living with this fear of being attacked.
We have no access to bathrooms, we don- We can’t use the bathrooms of our own choice,” said Danielle, a 17-years-old high school student who asked that her last name not be used because she is a youth in transition.
“It’s very hard to go to a party or a bar, and it’s very difficult to go into a locker room, but that’s not something that’s a concern to us.”
Danielle said she recently took on a new job and has to pay rent on a room that is far from her parents.
“Because of my gender identity, my mother doesn’t see me as her son.
It’s really tough,” she added.
Danielle’s mother said her son is now doing well, but said she’s not allowed any privacy or privacy for her son to transition.
Danielle, who has a history of mental health issues, says she hopes her family’s story can inspire other families to get the support they need.
“You know what?
I know this is hard for my mom.
I know she’s got to live her life, and I know my mom’s going to be a little bit sad, but I don’t want to be sad,” she concluded.
“My mom is just a very resilient person, and she’s going through a lot of things, and this is just her way of coping.”