How to Contact Your MLA

"MLA" stands for Member of the Legislative Assembly. Your MLA represents your concerns and your riding (a.k.a. neighborhood or region) in the Parliament of British Columbia, located in Victoria. If our MLAs receive enough personal letters, illustrating the frustrations of the trans community, there's a chance they will recognize the failings of our current trans health care system, and pressure the Minister of Health to change it for the better!

Here's how you can do this:

1. Find your MLA's webpage by searching from your postal code, 4th option on this form:
   http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/
2. You may also wish to reference your neighboring MLA's, especially those in Vancouver:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assembly_of_British_Columbia
3. Capture your MLA's email address and fax number.
4. Write/send them a letter!

Launch!

After a month of reviews and revisions, our campaign is finally ready to launch!

Our main challenge now is to connect with trans people, our SOFFAs (significant others, family, friends, and allies) and primary care providers / gender specialists with our message. Please help us get the word out! This campaign is only as effective as your participation! Here are some suggestions for how to do that:

Top 3 Ways SOFFAs Can Help Spread the Message:

1. Email the link to VanTAG (vantag.org) to your trusted, trans-supportive friends, i.e. family friends, close coworkers, and close relatives; ask them to subscribe to this blog and participate in the letter campaign.
2. Ask your partner/spouse to participate.
   
3. If you know anyone who's trans, link them too!

Top 5 Ways Trans People Can Help Spread the Message:

1. Email, instant message, or text (SMS) the link to VanTAG (vantag.org) to your SOFFAs; ask them to subscribe to this blog and participate in the letter campaign.
2. Trans youth: email your immediate family supports; e.g. parents, older siblings, relatives, if available.
   
3. Write a blog post or capture a vlog entry about VanTAG.
4. Talk with your trans support group / immediate community, if available.
   
5. Discuss this movement with your family doctor, endocrinologist, therapist, or gender specialist.
   

The Next Step:
Our team is wrapping up the first release in our Advocacy Kit, a Letter to the Minster of Health, Medical Services Plan, and Vancouver Coastal Health. It will detail the recent history of the present challenges we're all faced with, how those previous proposals have fallen short of the needs of the community, and perhaps most importantly, a plea for coverage.

Please prepare a personal letter outlining how these issues have affected your life (illustrating where you have run into roadblocks and inequalities with the medical system) and prepare to include this with your copy of our Advocacy Kit letter, to mail and fax in! Stay tuned for this release!

As always, we would love to hear from you! Please email your comments to: vantagblog@gmail.com

- The VanTAG Team