Kyle Scanlon

A native of Hamilton, Kyle Scanlon was a member of the queer students’ organization at McMaster University. A move to Toronto led Kyle into the Lesbian Gay Bi Youth Line, where he became the first openly transsexual man to be the Executive Director of a queer agency in Canada. Kyle was led to his current position at the 519 Community Centre, where he serves as the Centre’s Trans Programmes Co-coordinator. Finding emergency housing, securing funding for the programmes he oversees, providing a supportive ear and a safe space for distressed clients, and engaging in the process with Toronto’s homeless shelters to implement trans-positive policies are all in a day’s work. With the program’s’ weekly drop-in centre, Kyle also ensures his clients can look forward to a hot, nourishing meal, can access a housing worker and a legal clinic.

After hours, he can be found working as a member of Toronto’s LGBT Police Consultative Committee, with the Sherbourne Health Centre, where he works to improve access to medical services for the trans, two-spirited, and intersexed communities, or in an advisory role to a number of research projects related to trans issues. He was a key player in the Youth Migration Project, a large-scale research study undertaken to evaluate issues in HIV vulnerability in youth who have migrated to Toronto, the AIDS Committee of Toronto’s Trans Needs Assessment, and Fred Victor Centre’s document “Where We Are All Welcome”, highlighting the unique issues of homeless trans people trying to access space in hostels and shelters. Additionally, Kyle has supported many other community organizations in their quest to become trans-positive/trans-accessible, including the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, and the Law Society of Upper Canada, to name only a few.

His publications have appeared in such diverse media outlets as local newspapers, feminist essay collections, health advocacy websites, and academic journals. Kyle has been invited to speak at conferences across North America, and was recognized for his extensive community involvement with the 2001 Grassroots Trans Community Activist of the Year from SOY.

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