Sex and Gender

Subject: Apology from CBS to 2SLGBTQIA communities Greetings, Canadian Blood Services is grateful to the many 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations, communities and individuals who have worked alongside us for years to drive and influence change within Canada’s blood supply system, and who continue to work with us today. We have made strong commitments to increase inclusion for diverse 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and we are continuing to work to make donation criteria, processes, and interactions with Canadian Blood Services as inclusive as possible. In 2022, we implemented sexual behaviour-based screening in the donation process, which represented an important step towards greater inclusion within Canada’s blood system. However, it did not erase the harms experienced by gay, bi, queer, Two-Spirit, and trans people and the broader 2SLGBQTIA+ community because of the former donor eligibility policy. As part of our ongoing and necessary repair efforts, Canadian Blood Services will deliver a public apology to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada this week. We invite you to join us to hear this message during a livestream event on Friday, May 10, beginning at 10a.m. ET. Canadian Blood Services CEO Dr. Graham Sher will speak at this event, along with 2SLGBTQIA+ community members. You can tune in live in English at blood.ca/May10 or in French at sang.ca/10mai on Friday morning. We also invite you to share these links with others in your community. If you have any questions about this please reach out to me, Terrie Foster, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can contact Fae Johnstone, Executive Director of Wisdom2Action, to learn more at [email protected]. We are working with Fae and her team on 2SLGBTQIA+ community engagement. We hope you are able to join us on Friday!! Terrie Foster RN, MScN Pronouns: (She/They) Manager Stakeholder Engagement T 519-690-3926 C 226-268-8509 [email protected] blood.ca Together, we are Canada’s Lifeline.

Hi Folks, The slide decks and notes have been posted to the SGWG documents folder at the following link: infocentral.infoway-inforoute.ca/en/collaboration/wg/sex-gender Many thanks for your attendance and participation today, and many thanks to Nicole for the wonderful presentation! Kelly

Hi Folks, A gentle reminder about the SGWG meeting on April 23, 2024 at 12 ET / 9 PT. Nicole Blum has kindly agreed to join us on this call to discuss representing gender in genetic counseling practice and records. Should be very interesting! Here is the draft agenda: 1. Welcome and Land Acknowledgement 2. Ground rules for respectful dialogue 3. Purpose of Infoway Sex and Gender Working Group 4. Representing gender in genetic counseling practice and records - Nicole Blum 5. Schedule Review 6. Reminders & Adjournment Please send any agenda requests to Kelly at [email protected], Karen at [email protected] or Shannon at [email protected]. If you are new to the SGWG, please use this link to register: infoway-inforoute.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf-yoqjIpGtFrqu1R8-9WMY1j8oDWjXZl Also, please note our guidelines for respectful dialogue. - Express disagreement with ideas not personalities - Share airtime - Stay on topic - connect to what others have said - Understand & learn from each other - We are all equal. Leave rank at the door - Listen respectfully especially when you disagree. Acknowledge you have heard the others - Look for common ground - Identify & test assumptions Thank you! Kelly Davison RN, CTSS