The YWCA Sudbury has raised the concern that other women in the shelter may feel triggered by transgendered women sharing rooms with them oversight in the shelter. Based on some preliminary research completed by the Human Rights Legal Support Centre relating to the shelters in the province, the appropriate response to this kind of trigger is not to exclude the transgender women from the shelter but to population. As with other differences amongst women in shelters, whether those differences are cultural, , ethical, religious, or age - based, the YWCA SUdbury has a duty to facilitate inclusion, not discriminatory preference.
CUSTOMER PREFERENCE IS NOT A DEFENCE TO DISCRIMINATION.
Such triggering (If it were EVER to occur) can and must be addressed by management staff at the shelter in accordance with training. A woman who expresses a preference not to share a space with a transgender woman and cannot be convicted to share the space in an inclusive and respectful manner may need to be referred out, as would be the case if a women felt triggered by another woman's age or race.
To the Human Rights Legal Support Centre knowledge, the YWCA Sudbury is the only service provider of its kind in Ontario that refers transgender women to motels during the night (Safety being one of the concerns with this approach) Inclusive shelters in Ontario (including those in small towns), have a "no questions asked"fully inclusive policy for providing services to those who identify as women, regardless of whether they are transgender. There is a very small minority of service providers the Human Rights Legal Support Centre has been in touch with who refer to other inclusive programs.
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