‘Visibility is everything,’ Ottawa’s Trans March calls on Queer and Trans people to take up space while releasing 7 key demands for change

Thousands of 2SLGBTQIA+ people and allies took to the streets of Ottawa on Friday, turning the annual Trans March into both a protest against attacks on Trans rights and a celebration of the visibility, joy and liberation organizers say their communities deserve.

On Friday evening, thousands of people gathered at Uncommon Space in downtown Ottawa listening to speeches from local activists ahead of the annual Trans March. Speakers at the event included Fae Johnstone of Queer Momentum, who also led the march, Rainbow Railroad’s Latoya Nugent, artist and activist Imogen Reid, and local drag artist and Mr. Capital Pride 2026, Francis Coe.

Read More

• The 2026 Vancouver Trans March in photos

Among key topics at the rally, speeches addressed issues of solidarity, including for Queer and Trans refugees, harm reduction, as well as housing and economic justice. The audience at the rally, which transformed into a large protest with thousands taking to the streets, saw 2SLGBTQIA+ people gathered not only to demand their rights, but to celebrate the simple, and increasingly political, act of being themselves.

“All around the world we’re seeing attacks on the rights of Queer and Trans people,” Johnstone told Queer & Now. “Our community is going through hell right now.”

“So we have to show up and take up space, to celebrate the kids, to support the families and to put in the work to build a world where freedom and liberation is available to everyone,” she continued. “That’s what this march is about.”

We Demand

Trans March organizers released a list of seven demands they say are imperative to freedom and justice for Trans communities. The “We Demand” list includes:

1. We demand an end to injustice
2. We demand the City of Ottawa take action on housing, social services, education and employment
3. We demand an end to anti-Trans legislation across Canada
4. We demand the repeal of Bill C-12
5. We demand Ottawa take action to end complicity in Israel’s genocide and occupation in Palestine and Lebanon
6. We demand the decriminalization and destigmatization of sex work 
7. We demand pulicly-funded gender affirming healthcare

During her address, Nugent called on the federal government to protect Queer and Trans refugees in light of Bill C-12. The controversial legislation places strict limit on those seeking refugee protections, requiring them to apply for refugee status within 12 months of first entering Canada.

“We’re moving in the same direction as the U.S. right now,” she told the crowd. “Why is Ottawa stripping away the rights of Queer and Trans refugees? I thought Canadian values were supposed to be different.”

Nugent continued to say that when the U.S. threatens Canada’s economy, Canadian officials are quick to act, which she says is good.

“But people make the economy possible,” she continued. “So this is my cry to the Canadian government today: Defend Trans people with the same urgency you defend the economy.”

Ahead of the event, Kimani, a Trans community member involved in organizing the Ottawa Trans March, told Queer & Now that distinction is important.

The annual rally and subsequent march is an opportunity for Trans people and their allies to take up space, advocate for the needs of Trans communities and honour those who came before them. But it is also, Kimani says, a celebration of “Trans joy and Trans liberation.”

Visibility as an act of resistance

And in the current political climate, that joy matters, and is “absolutely imperative.”

They point to Trans youth facing barriers to healthcare and unequal rights across Canada, while warning that communities are growing concerned as governments consider policies that could further marginalize Trans children and youth. South of the border, 2SLGBTQIA+ people are also navigating an increasingly hostile political environment.

Against that backdrop, simply being visible can become an act of resistance.

“Being able to take up space as a Trans person and as Trans communities is absolutely important,” Kimani says. “To know that folks don’t have to hide, to know that folks don’t have to cover up who they are, that they are allowed to exist, and they are allowed to be joyful and happy.”

For Trans youth in particular, that visibility can mean something even bigger: seeing adults who have lived through the uncertainty and fear they may currently be experiencing, and being able to imagine themselves growing into a future of their own.

Kimani, who is 32, has a message for those young people.

“You are important, and you are valued, and you will be protected,” they say. “I know right now it is extremely scary.”

But fear, Kimani says, should not be allowed to define the future of Trans youth.

“There are people out there who are looking for you,” they say. “Your future is bright, and it is filled with joy, and it is filled with love and compassion and care.”

“I’m here because visibility is everything,” Francis Coe, who is from rural Lanark County, told rally attendees, explaining that while they were growing up, they did not see people who were openly Queer and Trans.

“So it’s important that I come out here, I talk to everybody, and we have big events like this. Because otherwise, there are [2SLGBTQIA+] youth out there who don’t know what their life could look like.”

The Trans March: A space for community and allies

The Trans March is a space for Trans people, but Kimani says parents of Trans children, friends and family members also show up. The event creates an opportunity not only to advocate, but to learn, especially for those who may have encountered misinformation about Trans communities.

And then comes the celebration. After speeches and the march, participants gathered for pizza, music and dancing in the park, a tradition Kimani says symbolizes the joy Trans people deserve. Because joy isn’t an escape from the fight for liberation, it is part of it.

“Joy is what sustains us,” Kimani says. “It’s what keeps us going. It’s what allows us to be able to wake up the next day and keep on fighting.”

For Queer and Trans communities, celebration has always existed alongside struggle. There is grief, anger and resistance, but there is also dancing, laughter, friendship, chosen family and the freedom to exist loudly.

For Ottawa’s local Trans organizers, activists, and 2SLGBTQIA+ community members, those things aren’t distractions from the work, but a reason to keep doing it. Because daring to take up space can mean holding a sign, demanding progressive change, or perhaps it means putting on music, finding your people and dancing because you’re still here.