Hi Bari!

Welcome to the city 🙂 First in terms of social support groups there are a few options. The Center for gender advocacy, ASTTeQ and ATQ are the three main trans and non-binary focused organizations in Montreal. You could reach out to them or visit their spaces to find out about what they currently offer. For instance, ATQ is organizing the Fierté Trans Pride festival on november 19-21 which could be a great opportunity to learn about the different groups and to meet members of the community!

 If you’re open to broader 2SLGBTQIA+ associations as well, you could also look into the Jeunesse Lambda Youth and Project 10 weekly bilingual drop-ins, both groups usually post the event details on their facebook/instagram and can be reached for more details. SafeBox Mtl is another cool english-speaking LGBTQ+ discussion and support group you could check out.

You mentionned being non-binary in the form, I don’t if you also happen to identify as transfeminine or as a trans women? If so, I’d also recommend FEMTL, which moderates a Discord community and helds in-person meetings. Online groups, such as Personnes non-binaires du Québec (territoires non-cédés) QC non-binary folx or Trans / GenderQueer / EnBy Montreal – Tiohtià:ke on Facebook, are also a good place to start to find support without leaving the house!

You also mentioned being part of the Asian community, there is a ​​peer support group for queer and trans Asians in Montreal called Rainbow Noodles and is completely run by volunteers. You can follow them on Instagram or Facebook, ask for support or participate in their upcoming activities. You can also join them by email (queertransasiatiquemontreal@gmail.com) or by joining their private Facebook group.

I know I’m giving you a lot of different options, but I think it’s probably better to have too many than not enough 🙂 Feel free to choose whichever seems to fit your needs and schedule the most, you don’t have to go to each and every one of them. 

Now as for hormones, the basic gist is to get a medical practitioner, like a family doctor or an endocrinologist, to write you a prescription, most (but not all) of them will require a letter from a mental health professional confirming a gender dysphoria diagnosis. You can find more details and explanations in this document from the Center for gender advocacy as well as their updated list of healthcare professionals working with trans folks. ASTTeQ also has a very in-depth page on hormones and how to access them. Finally, Project 10 coordinates a network of trans health resources, you can access their excel file of trans-friendly services, and contact their trans activities coordinator, Syanna (she/her), at trans@p10.qc.ca.

I hope this helps! Of course we at AlterHeros are also available if you have any more questions.

Be safe,

Maxime, peer support agent for AlterHeros

Iel/they/them, accords neutres