A Toronto all-girls private school is being applauded for featuring two transgender alumni in one of its publications.
Andy Sprung and Reed Wanless, who both graduated from Rosedales Branksome Hall in 2004, are on the latest cover of The Read, the schools annual alumni magazine.
Sprung and Wanless are featured in separate articles inside the magazine, where they discuss their transitions and their experiences at school.
Now a lawyer in Hamilton, Sprung says he did not identify as transgender until he attended law school at the University of Toronto. He transitioned before being called to the bar.
Both Sprung and Wanless were members of the student-run Rainbow Society, now called the Gay-Straight Alliance, while at Branksome. Wanless says that a school presentation on trans issues helped him come out by the end of grade 12.
Wanless is now a Toronto-based French immersion elementary school teacher. He also is a consultant for Branksome Hall’s Transgender Working Group. According to The Read editor Tanya Pimenoff in her letter to readers, the recently established TWG will explore the needs of current prospective transgender students.
My understanding of gender transition has taken a giant leap forward, she adds. I look forward to learning more and embracing our changing times.
Read Sprung and Wanlesss stories in The Read.
michelled@nowtoronto.com | @michdas
