For Mason Charbonneau, Pride is about being who you are.
Standing on the steps of city hall at the launch of Pride Week in Timmins, Charbonneau publicly shared who he is for the first time.
He said he is a father, science communicator and animal lover.
“But one thing some people don’t about me when they first look at me is that I’m also transgender,” he said.
Sharing his story now comes down to being comfortable.
“After just about two years of transitioning you start noticing more physical changes, so now I’m more comfortable in my body and that makes a huge difference,” he said following the kick off.
While it was nerve-wracking to read his speech to the crowd, it was also empowering.
“To say it publicly as opposed to just a one-on-one conversation with somebody was a lot different and gave me confidence,” he said.
By sharing his story, it’s an opportunity to educate people.
“I’m not yet fully comfortable with who I am, also I do not feel 100 per cent safe at times. But I do know that there are some individuals out there who are still too scared to come out as transgender and I want to offer a public voice of support from within that specific community,” Charbonneau told the crowd.
One of the common questions he gets is about knowing if he was transgender at a young age.
In junior kindergarten, he remembers playing pretend and how gender roles were a part of it. There were little houses and the girls would iron and follow those roles, “but I wanted to be the father.”
“Now a little situation like that may come across as nothing, but many situations like that growing up, combined with my insecurity, turned into a big thing,” he said.
After doing research, at 13 he realized that he was identifying with transgender. After talking to his mom, they made an appointment at a gender clinic in Toronto, but cancelled everything at the last minute.
For the next seven years, he bottled up being transgender.
“Those seven years were long. Every single day it felt like more and more weight was being added to my shoulders, I became extremely irritable and depressed because of the lack of self-confidence I had. Every day I would look in the mirror and absolutely despise the person looking back at me,” he recalled. “I remember eventually becoming fed up with how angry I was. I couldn’t suppress my issues anymore and I decided to speak with counsellors and doctors to begin my transition. In 10 days, it’s going to be my two-year anniversary of transitioning on hormone treatment.”
His advice to other teens is to wait until you’re ready.
“I want to say ignore everybody else’s opinion, but when you’re that age everybody else’s opinion is also important,” he said.
“It’s important to do it when you’re ready because if you force yourself to do it when you’re not ready it’s not going to go smoothly, you might regret transitioning, it’s going to cause you problems down the road especially if you start hormone treat and then stop and then start again. Just wait until you’re ready, you’ll know; you’ll know when you’re fed up, you’ll know when you’re done and you’re ready to take that step.”
Pride Week Events
Fierte Timmins Pride has a full week of celebrations planned for its fifth annual event in the city.
The festivities started with the proclamation and flag-raising at city hall, and also include speed dating, an inclusive prom, drag show, parade, and more.
Fierte Timmins Pride president Matt Villeneuve explained why it’s important to have the events locally.
“Timmins is a small town and there’s a lot of close-minded individuals, so the thing is to have Pride Week gives an opportunity to advocate for the community and gives a little moment for everybody to show how much they matter to the community,” Villeneuve said.
He noted a lot of people leave for bigger centres.
“Every time that they leave it never gets any better here. So the thing is to stick around and make an impact,” he said.
Events this week include:
June 5, 7 p.m. – Speed dating at Full Beard, women seeking women
June 6, 8 p.m. – Pride Bowling at Midtown Bowl
June 8, 7 p.m. – Inclusive Prom at Kamiskotia Resort
June 9 – There will be a rally at 11 a.m. and parade at 3 p.m. at Hollinger Park. The 5th annual drag show is at 7 p.m. at Kamiskotia Resort.
June 10, 7 p.m. – Commemorative Vigil at 355 Wilson Ave.
For more information, visit timminspride.com.
