Lifestyle

B.C.’s transgender community speaking out after ‘deadnames’ appear on vaccine cards


As BC’s vaccine card goes into effect on Monday, some people in British Columbia are expressing frustration over a bug in the system.

Wulfric Odinson, who uses the pronouns he, he and he, told Global News he signed up for the card the first day he could.

“I discovered that my dead name, which I changed in 2016, had mysteriously reappeared on my vaccine passport,” he said.

A dead name is the use of someone’s birth or old name used without that person’s consent.

Kyler Emerson, a journalism student at Kwantlen Polytechnic who also uses the pronouns he, he and he, told Global News that the same thing that happened to Odinson happened to him. .

“It’s hard to see,” he said.

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He changed his name in early 2018 and says he hasn’t really seen it since.

“That name came about after going through a very long process to change it and pay a fee, actually the government, I don’t know what happened there (but) it was hard and brought a lot old feeling.”

Emerson emailed the HealthLink contact but didn’t hear back, so he decided to call Thursday morning and talk to someone.

“She said she would send me a copy of my vaccine card,” he said. “I assume she put it in the mail yesterday, I got no confirmation of that.”

Another email telling him his dead name was obtained from the BC Immunization Registry and that they are “looking into it.”

“I don’t know what that means,” he said.


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Odinson said he’s not necessarily surprised this is happening but it’s still another battle to fight.

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“This is something that’s been happening to me for about five years, so I’m really tired,” he said.

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He went back and forth with various government agencies to try to fix this problem.

“You can just realize so many things, as a transgender person there are so many other concerns and considerations that come into our lives and that’s enough. I spent about 12 hours on the phone with MSP and Service BC and everyone else and learned a little more about what is really going on with this and how and why this is happening.

“That’s something the Minister will have to deal with.”


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Odinson said he has about 60 messages in his inbox from other transgender people experiencing similar problems.

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He said it is very common for transgender people to have their dead name appear on “official” documents such as voter registration cards, health documents and other legal documents.

He wants to see a portal where someone can change their name and then it changes it on all other official documents as well.

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The Department of Health told Global News that it continues to engage with advocacy groups and the community and is looking for a solution to the issue.

“The system didn’t listen to transgender people when we pointed out that there were flaws that made our lives harder,” Odinson said.

The whole process, Emerson says, brings with it a sense of bewilderment and fear of what is to come.

“It was a slap in the face,” he said. “I was fully vaccinated, I did my part. Of course I want to do things safely, but let’s do things again and try to have a normal life.”

–With files from Kamil Karmali

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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