Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Many transgender and non-binary people across the world faced reduced access to gender-affirming resources during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a decline in overall mental health and furthering the health-care inequalities faced by these individuals, according to a new survey.
The survey, which includes data from 964 transgender and non-binary adults from 76 countries, showed that about half of the participants faced reduced access to gender-affirming resources from April to August 2020, when the survey was conducted.
Nearly 40 per cent said that the pandemic reduced their ability to live according to their gender.
"Transgender communities, who already face a myriad of health inequities, experienced even further health burdens due to restrictions imposed during COVID, like reduced access to gender-affirming treatments and mental health resources,” wrote study author Brooke Jarrett of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a press release.
“To move forward, we need to support trans communities with policies that make gender-affirming health care affordable, accessible, and recognized as essential.”
Using LGBTQ2S+ dating apps Hornet and Her as the survey platform, researchers asked participants questions about how the pandemic had affected their access to gender-affirming resources, mental health, and financial stability.
Citing several other studies conducted over the course of the pandemic, Jarrett says there was mounting evidence to suggest that measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 exacerbated the health-care challenges faced by trans and non-binary people – from the cancellation of gender-affirming surgeries that were perceived to be elective, or having to move in with unsupportive relatives and spend more time living according to their sex assigned at birth instead of their actual gender.
Analysis of the submissions, broken down into continental regions, revealed that many trans and non-binary people anticipated financial hardships during the pandemic, such as possible reduced income and the loss of health insurance.
Those who reported reduced access to gender-affirming resources were also more likely to report symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
In the “Americas” region, 60 per cent of participants reported reduced access to gender-affirming resources, with 40 per cent reporting a reduction in hormone therapy and/or gender-affirming medication.
More than 45 per cent reported losing access to things like cosmetic supplies and services such as makeup, wigs, and hair removal – all of which can play an important role in gender-affirmation for those that identify as trans or non-binary.
“The entire spectrum of gender-affirming resources and services— from haircuts to hormone therapy to surgery—are crucial to transgender and non-binary individuals, as these resources and services activate and enhance the interactive process of receiving recognition for one’s gender, sense of self, and sense of humanity,” reads the study.
“Given the abundant pre-COVID literature that gender affirmation also leads to better mental health and quality of life, our data underscore the importance of securing access to these essential resources and services to support the mental health of transgender and non- binary individuals during the COVID-19 crisis.”
The pandemic-specific report echoes some of the same concerns brought to light in a March 2020 national study on trans health in Canada.
The report published by Trans PULSE, the largest national study on health care for trans people in Canada, found that trans and non-binary Canadians still face under-employment, issues having their health-care needs met, and fear of harassment that leads many to avoid certain public spaces.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.