“I wanted to give back for the support I had received.”

Kimberly became involved with Battered Women Support Services, and stayed engaged for over seven years, first as a participant and then later as a peer counsellor.
She was also invited to become a volunteer at Vancouver Rape Relief and successfully passed a pre-screening before beginning volunteer training. Unfortunately, despite her skillset and lived experience, Kimberly was rejected from volunteering at Rape Relief almost immediately.

“The first night of training I was taken aside, and one of the facilitator’s started to ask questions regarding my gender.”

Kimberly is a trans woman. She had identified as a female all of her life, and in 1985 she transitioned so that she may be publically and legally recognized as a woman.

However, Vancouver Rape Relief refused to recognize her legal gender.

“I was told I was not welcome because I was a transsexual woman.”

In August 1995, Kimberly filed a human rights complaint alleging that Vancouver Rape Relief discriminated against her, and therefore violated the British Columbia Human Rights Code.

Five years later Kimberly’s court case went to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

“It was during this time that WAVAW made a public statement in support of trans woman accessing woman only services… I was very grateful for WAVAW’s support as the Human Rights process is a very long and lonely journey… Up until this time, no woman’s organizations anywhere had policies on the inclusion of trans women. WAVAW was one of the first to begin to move in that direction and was likely the first to publicly speak out as a strong ally for transgender people”.

Kimberly’s case would remain in the courts until 2010. She won the Human Rights Tribunal and won the Judicial Review at the Supreme Court of BC. However, the Supreme Court of BC eventually ruled that the Human Rights Code does not apply to nonprofit organizations that are privately funded, and the Supreme Court of Canada upheld this decision.

Kimberly’s court case has been hugely influential, and the majority of the Human Rights Tribunal decision still stands to this day and establishes that trans people are marginalized and that they have the legal right to self identify.

When asked whether the 15-year court case was worth it, Kimberly’s Lawyer, barbara findlay, replied:

“It was absolutely worth it because of the impact this case [has had] on feminism and women’s groups in Canada. We have been able to serve as a catalyst for the women’s movement. Almost all of the women’s centres in Canada are now trans-inclusive. So Kimberly has changed the world for trans women. I think Kimberly is a hero, having pursued this case with dignity and single-minded determination-though she had to endure the glare of media attention and the derision of women’s groups in doing so.”

Despite her lengthy and exhausting court proceedings, Kimberly has remained an incredible social justice advocate. She has published guidelines for trans inclusion at women serving organizations, advocated for supports for people experiencing same-sex violence in relationships, and pushed for the inclusion for transmasculine and nonbinary people at support service organizations.

“As many trans people experience abuse, not only from a partner but often from society, being believed for who you are may be part of the healing process! “

Kimberly has also remained closely involved with WAVAW over the years.

“WAVAW invited me to facilitate trans oppression, anti-oppression, anti-racism workshops, which I did about every three months. WAVAW also asked me to speak at special events such as the anniversary of the murdered women in Montreal on Dec. 6.
I wish to thank WAVAW for being such a strong ally and thank all the women in organizations such as WAVAW who made change within woman’s organizations across the country because it was necessary and right!”

Kimberly has been an instrumental part of WAVAW’s trans inclusion work, and we are beyond grateful for her leadership, her insights, her invaluable experience, and for all of the people that she has supported to access healing and justice through her advocacy work.