“that realization was followed very quickly by me trying to end my own life. being a queer kid in the suburbs in the mid-’80s, in southern alberta, was not safe or healthy. in my head, i really did not see any kind of future or place for myself.”
fuery kept her identity hidden for decades, policing herself to fit in with what society expected of her. she struggled with multiple addictions from early adolescence, but her alcoholism rose to dangerous levels during the pandemic, she said.
near the end of 2020, she said to herself “anything but this.”
“i let myself unfold, to think what i thought, and feel what i felt, and do what i wanted to do.”
lindsay peace, executive director of skipping stones, shows her tattoo, which she had changed after her son came out as transgender, at her office in downtown calgary on thursday, may 26, 2022. peace has tattoos of her three children on her arm and the one of her son ace used to be wearing a pink dress. she had the tattoo changed by the help of her husband steve peace who is a tattoo artist.
azin ghaffari
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postmedia
now 16 months sober, fuery still remembers the first piece of clothing she bought for herself — a bright magenta tank top.
fuery emphasized not all gender and sexually diverse people need to access medical procedures to transition. however, she said she struggles with gender dysphoria and needs bottom surgery for her own journey.
“the physical dysphoria is a major mental health issue. i’m speaking in my own context, but having that mismatch between brain and body is punishing,” she said.
“no one who needs top or bottom surgery does this frivolously. we don’t do this because we’re bored. we do this because this is about our survival.”