Gender Creative Kids Canada launches The You Inside Project
Montreal, Wednesday, June 14, 2017 – Despite the media buzz regarding transgender rights in recent months, few resources exist to improve the situation for transgender youth today. Gender Creative Kids Canada, together with lg2, is proud to launch The You Inside Project. This is a creative and innovative social project featuring a short animated film shared on social media and an educational toy (a fictional character named Sam) that is for pre-sale on Kickstarter. The project is designed to answer the needs of loved ones searching for tools to discuss this delicate, complex and universal issue with transgender children, their family and friends.
People are invited to support this project by sharing the animated film on social networks and by participating in the international campaign of socio-financing through the online platform, Kickstarter. To ensure the success of this project, Gender Creative Kids Canada hopes to pre-sell over 1,500 Russian Sam dolls, which will be ready to be shipped by spring 2018 if the goal is met.
A Russian doll that unites emotion and education
The You Inside Project tells the unique and touching story of Sam, a gender creative child. This
engaging character comes to life in a moving animated film created by Québec artist Rodolphe Saint-Gelais. The project is further animated through an educational toy that illustrates the different emotions felt by children who question their gender identity. Each toy is accompanied by a booklet that explains the emotional steps represented by each figurine and helps adults answer difficult questions. “The creation of an educational toy meets the specific needs of both parents and teachers who lack tangible tools to help children and their families understand transgender identities and the emotional challenges of being born gender creative,” explains Annie Pullen Sansfaçon from Gender Creative Kids
Canada. Pullen Sansfaçon is also an associate professor at the Université de Montréal and mother of Olie, a gender creative child.
Transgender realities demystified through play
We know that anywhere between 2%–6% of boys and 5%–12% of girls identify or express their gender differently from their assigned sex at birth. Most children who question their gender identity are born in environments that are not prepared for this reality. They are often victims of physical, verbal and sexual harassment that can lead to situations of rejection, isolation and depression. Play is one of the best ways for children to learn and it also helps adults to open discussions on a sensitive topic. It is difficult for a child to be assigned a sex at birth that does not correspond to their gender identity. It is equally difficult for family and friends to understand the difference between the sex assigned at birth and that child’s gender identity. Therefore, the creation of a concrete, child-friendly
tool for informing, exchanging and educating is so vitally important: with education comes
understanding, empathy and, ultimately, acceptance.
To find out more, visit: http://theyouinside.com / http://aucoeurdetoi.com
About Gender Creative Kids Canada
Gender Creative Kids Canada is a non-profit, national-based organization based in Montreal that aims to raise awareness of the needs of gender creative children while supporting families and communities.
For more information, visit: http://gendercreativekids.ca .
The organization’s administrators formed a scientific committee composed of the following members: Annie Pullen Sansfaçon, BSW, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Université de Montreal; Katia Giannikakis, M.Ed., Ps. Ed., Special Care Counselling, Vanier College; Kimberley Ens Manning,PhD, Principal, Simone de Beauvoir Institute and Associate Professor, Department of Political Sciences, Concordia University.
About lg2
Founded in 1991, lg2 is an integrated communications agency with more than 260 employees and offices in Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto. It is the largest independent agency in Canada. lg2 is one of the most recognized Canadian agencies in the industry. It was named the 2016 Agency of the Year in Canada by the Advertising & Design Club of Canada (ADCC) and by the CLIO Awards in 2015. It was also recognized as Interactive Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine and the ADCC in 2014.
For more information, visit: http://lg2.com .
Sources: Gender Creative Kids Canada and lg2
For more information:
Marie-Luce Ouellet
Brand Manager, lg2
Tel.: 514 281-8901, ext. 311
Cell: 514 586-2564
marie-luce.ouellet@lg2.com
Acknowledgements
The You Inside Project could not have been brought to life without the help, kindness, financial support and general enthusiasm of our partners: TD Bank, Bell Canada, Government of Quebec, Roméo + Fils and Rodolphe Saint-Gelais, Shed, lg2, Fondation Émergence and Infrarouge communications.
Additional information
Quebec society will need to become increasingly aware of the needs of transgender youth. The Government of Quebec’s Plan of Action to Prevent and Combat Bullying 2015–2018 already recognizes this reality and proposes to work on certain aspects related to the trans-youth experience by supporting the school community on this issue and making the fight against homophobic and transphobic bullying one of its priorities. The new Government Action Plan to Combat Homophobia and Transphobia 2017–2022 reaffirms the importance of sensitizing the various communities, including schools, to sexual diversity.
