Dear Women,
We are writing to ask for your help with a new project being funded by the VIEW Program (Violence Intervention and Education Workgroup). As you may know, transgendered/transsexual (TG/TS) women are the targets of considerable violence; however, neither mainstream nor feminist organizations tend to view TG/TS women as falling within their mandates. Human rights tribunals are ruling that transsexual women are entitled to protection from discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. Therefore, women's organizations will be asked to provide services to this group of women, but few feel prepared to do so. This is the reason for the Trans Accessibility Project. The purpose is to develop a user-friendly manual to enable women's shelters to provide appropriate services to TG/TS women. The manual is intended as a tool to assist shelters in implementing changes within their organizations.

We both have long histories working with women's organizations and are aware of some of the dilemmas posed by TG/TS women within the feminist community. We have also been working on transgender issues for the past couple of years, with Allison doing outreach to the TG community in relation to HIV/AIDS concerns; and Julie addressing trans-inclusion with residences and other services on a university campus.

We are asking you to assist with Phase 2 of this project by completing the questionnaire on the reverse side of this letter. The questionnaire was developed in conjunction with a focus group of shelter workers and is being sent to as many women's shelters in Ontario as possible. We will use your experiences, concerns and ideas to guide the development of the manual.

If you find it difficult to complete the questionnaire, do what you can - we will be happy to receive them partially completed. If you would find it easier to fax (or mail) a copy of relevant policies or procedures, rather than writing them out, please do so. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us.

Please mail by April 30th to:	Trans Accessibility Project c/o 254 Division Street Kingston, Ontario K7K 3Z6
OR Fax to:

Thank you for considering this request. We know that everyone's workload has increased in recent years and we truly appreciate you taking time out for this.

Sincerely,

Allison Cope (613) 542-9006

Julie Darke (613) 542-5582