Meet Gabrielle Bouchard, the first trans president of the Quebec Women's Federation

Gabrielle Bouchard was elected last month as president of the most prominent women's organization in the province,the Fdration des femmes du Qubec(FFQ).

In taking over the well-knowninstitution, which has been around since 1966,Bouchard said her goals are tomaintain the organization's mandate:equality for all women and equality between all women.

And while we have come far in addressing the former, Bouchard said society still struggles with the latter. Herown story is a shining example of that.

Prior to becoming president of the FFQ, she worked for more than a decade with ConcordiaUniversity's Centre for Gender Advocacy as a trans advocate and public educator

BouchardlovesDr. Who, country musicandsci-fiaudiobooks.

She enjoys the musicalWickedand her favourite female politician isQubecSolidaireMNAManonMass, because she feelsMasshas "a heart bigger than the size of Montreal."

But one thing about Bouchard's background has been getting attention in recent weeks the fact that when she was born, she was assigned a male gender on all official forms.

Bouchard is the first transgender woman to oversee the FFQ and some people take issue with that.

Denise Bombardier, acolumnist for the Journal de Montral, wrote a critical piecearguing that sinceBouchard transitioned as an adult, she would never be able to truly experience the strife and struggle of the "everyday woman"including motherhood and child bearing.

For some women, being a mother is important to them, it's a sense of pride and that's valid,Bouchardsaid.

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"But not every person who gives birth wants to be identified this way."

'I need to listen'

So how can a transgender woman represent all women in Quebec?

Bouchard addressed her critics by giving the following example: former FFQ presidents, mostly middle-class, white women, did a fine job representingwomen despite not being able to relate to the experiences of women on the margins.

"I'm here as an amplifier of women's strife and struggles in Quebec and that [goes] way beyond me," she said.

Bouchard recognizes that her identity as a trans woman is important in assuming the role as president, but her new responsibility entails more than that.

"I can bring one aspect of my life that will inform part of my work," she said. "But actually, my job is to represent all experiences, for all women in Quebec, so I need to listen."

Bouchardsaid while her identity as atranswoman is important, it is just one of many stories.

"My story is really, really boring," she said. "Of course, I was denied employment.Of course, I was denied access to bathrooms.Of course, I had all of these things."

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'Let's have the conversation'

CBC Homerun's Sue Smith asked Bouchard if she feared that the discussion aroundher being transwouldtake space away from other conversations concerning the work that theFFQ needs to accomplish.

Bouchard said that she's happy that the conversation is happening now, twoweeks into her mandate.

"Let's have the conversation, let's be true about it, and once it's done people will have more information... and then we'll move beyond those conversations."

Gabrielle Bouchard becomes first trans woman to head Quebec Women's Federation

7 years ago

Duration 0:57

Bouchard says she can represent women from all walks of life in Quebec.

The FFQwas created in 1966 when several smaller women's groups came together to create a unified agency for women's rights.

Today, itidentifies itself as a feminist organization that defends women's rights and issues in the province. The organization has 300 organization members and over 600 individual members.

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