The Yukon Pride Centre has launched the Yukon Gender Gear Program as part of a larger venture aimed to provide direct aid to LGBTQIA2S+ Yukoners in the midst of the pandemic.

The program is a partnership project with GenderGear.ca, BYTE, and Northern Voices Rising. It aims to provide free access to essential gender-affirming “gear” to Trans, Two-Spirit, and Non-binary Yukoners.

Ames Val, the program development manager with the Yukon Pride Centre, said Feb. 2 these items are essential, and that free access to gender gear could help community members feel safer and more comfortable.

“It can make a huge difference in allowing us to have a quality of life that we may not have had access to before, especially when people may be facing various barriers that make purchasing directly or ordering online difficult,” the manager said.

Gear refers to items of clothing or prosthetics that alter one’s physical appearance.

Examples are a chest binder, an item of clothing that compresses the chest to help it appear more flat, and a dilator, which assists in relieving pain, maintaining elasticity post-surgery or assisting with kegel-type exercises.

To qualify for the program, individuals must live in the Yukon or Atlin, Lower Post and Dease Lake, B.C. and submit a confidential application through the queeryukon.com website.

The deadline to apply is Feb. 15 for this initial round of funding, provided by the Canadian Red Cross Emergency Support to Community Organizations Program and the federal government.

The Yukon Pride Centre is currently seeking additional funding to continue the program and encourages individuals and organizations who want to see this program continue to consider making a donation.

“I’m stoked to launch this program and wish it was around here when I was younger,” Val added.

The program is part of a larger initiative organized by the Yukon Pride Centre aiming to support members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community through the pandemic.

With staff in Whitehorse, Watson Lake and Dawson City, the Pride Centre has been working to deliver direct aid with community partners such as Blood Ties Four Directions, Inclusion Yukon, the Women’s Transition Home, Hearts and Hands, and the Whitehorse shelter.

LGBTQIA2S+ community members can access services with these community partners without needing to disclose their gender or sexual orientation.

The Pride Centre said the project is intended to support regular services that are already supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community, knowing the funding would benefit other Yukoners in-need as well.

A number of corporate sponsors have already joined the Pride Centre in helping the program expand its reach.

Meanwhile, Pride Centre staff are planning online events in February that include a Valentine’s Day online dance party, an online painting workshop in partnership with the Northern Cultural Expressions Society, a Queer Caregivers group and an online coffee chat.

The Pride Centre is an initiative launched in 2020, with the goal of supporting LGBTQIA2S+ people living in the Yukon.

The centre is envisioned to be a community-driven and collectively imagined space, with a goal of finding a physical location where community members can gather and access resources, programs and supports.

“As we work together to create something truly exciting, we continue to seek input on this ground-breaking project,” the centre said.