Driven to show up: A Vancouver drag queen determined to bring change

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Jaylene Tyme has appeared on some of the most celebrated stages of the drag world, including the upcoming Canada’s Drag Race, Season 5.

This week, when she shares her story as a keynote speaker at the 20th annual Community-Based Research Centre summit in Vancouver, it will be a full-circle moment.

Like a superhero that takes off their cape and lives another life by day, Tyme has worked tirelessly to combat homophobia and transphobia and fight for equity and access to health services, as a research coordinator for the centre’s two-spirit program.

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“She has moved so many members of our team in so many ways. It’s not always on a grand stage, sometimes it’s a Zoom or a coffee chat, but she starts to tell her story and I can see the impact on employees, and on policy makers,” said Michael Kwag, executive-director of the centre, a national organization dedicated to advancing health research for queer and trans people.

Sharing her story is medicine, said Tyme, not just for herself, but for those who haven’t yet found their voices.

A Sixties Scoop survivor and two-spirit trans woman with 25 years of sobriety, Tyme is committed to reaching those who are still excluded from opportunities.

“I’m 53 years old now, and I’m able to be invited to be part of discussions that make resources accessible for people who are looking for a place to fit in, and be seen and heard,” said Tyme.

Her keynote, Vigilance and Vision, takes on the rising stigma and prejudice toward queer, trans, and two-spirit people in Canada, and explores a path forward.

“It really is about showing up authentically, being treated with respect, and being given the same provisions and opportunities as anybody else,” said Tyme.

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Tyme knows what it is to be excluded, and experience disconnection.

As a child, she was removed from her Indigenous community, adopted by a settler family, and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. It was “a world that was binary and homophobic,” said Tyme. “I wasn’t able to be myself.”

After leaving the farm, she found a home in queer spaces, among queer people and Calgary’s drag community.

“I realized there are more people like me out there,” said Tyme.

After a number of years in Calgary, she moved to Vancouver, but struggled with drugs and alcohol in “the city that doesn’t sleep.”

“I didn’t have the structure or support to be able to thrive,” said Tyme.

Rehab helped provide that structure and support, and the powerful examples of grassroots organizing she saw in the early 1990s, when HIV and AIDS was devastating the community, showed a vision of how community could step up to bring change.

“I watched people do fundraisers and shows and support people when their families and health care had turned their backs. I watched the power of extended family. That has impacted me to this day, and it’s one of the reasons I’m driven to show up,” said Tyme.

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In her work with the centre, she brings an Indigenous lens. “When we show up, we come from a place of relation. We are asking questions, and helping people ask for better health care,” said Tyme.

This year’s conference is about celebrating many years of growth and success, but it’s also about making sure that hard-won rights and safeguards are protected.

“2SLGBTQ+ people are still disproportionately affected by health issues made worse by discrimination, prejudice and stigma, while experiencing the same challenges around housing and employment that everyone has,” said Kwag. “They experience higher rates of social isolation, loneliness, mental health issues, and rejection from their families.”

“There are reasons to be concerned about rising anti-queer and anti-trans rhetoric,” said Kwag.

“We’ve experienced the fight, and we continue to fight,” said Tyme. “We all deserve dignity and respect.”

Although the summit has sold out, a livestream will be available to anyone who registers at cbrcsummit.net

dryan@postmedia.com

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