Kingston chaplain advocates for 2SLGBTQIA+ community by changing national military policies
Chaplain (Captain) Beatrice Gale is a transgender female dedicated to affecting policy change for the Canadian Armed Forces from within. She is a very impactful advocate for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. She has made tremendous breakthroughs for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community through her work with the Defence Team Pride Advisory Organization (DTPAO).
As the policy lead for the DTPAO, she has changed military policies and broken down barriers for the transgender community to help move the military towards complete inclusivity. She advises the chain of command, including the chief of defence staff on discriminatory policies that need to be revised so they are more inclusive. She also ensures that new policies introduced to the military are not discriminatory to the pride community.
In 2023, Chaplain Gale changed the national policy that restricted the coverage of facial hair removal for transfeminine people. The removal of facial hair for transfeminine people is now authorized and funded, allowing them to fully express themselves freely. What may seem like a small change is a tremendous win for the transgender community and makes all the difference. This allows serving members to feel more included and accepted in the military. They are no longer dictated on whether they are allowed or are not allowed to remove their facial hair. Changing these policies can save lives and improve the mental well-being of many.
Not only did she change this policy, but she is currently working on removing another policy that does not allow transitioning transgender people to join the military without a waiver. This means that if you are actively using hormone therapy as a form of transition, you require a waiver to be signed. This is a barrier for the transgender community, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as a whole. Advocating for this change in policy will allow the military to be more accessible for people who are in active transition. If implemented, this change will be an amazing win for the whole 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Advocating for marginalized groups at the national level is extremely important if we want to become a society that is accepting and loving of all. The work Beatrice Gale has done will allow transgender people to have more rights and opportunities in the future. She is fighting for the rights of all so that the generation after us will not need to fight to be treated as equal humans.
Chaplain (Captain) Beatrice Gale
Chaplain Gale’s main goal through her advocacy is simple: equal opportunity and support within the military. She wants to promote inclusivity for all and wants everyone to feel loved because we are all human at the end of the day. She is actively educating people to be more accepting of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community with her work as a positive space coordinator in the Kingston area. Here, she trains positive space ambassadors, who are visible allies for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community within their unit. Many military members and family members of someone in the military turn to positive space ambassadors for support and advice. Numerous people ask positive space ambassadors questions pertaining to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, as they are positive, non-judgmental and friendly people you can turn to for help. Chaplain Gale helps train these positive space ambassadors to make changes within our community.
Through training positive space ambassadors, Chaplain Gale is creating vocal allies for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and increasing the amount of support they have within the military. She is also providing many with education that will allow them to change their discriminatory and fearful mindset to a loving and accepting mindset. Gale believes that the key to acceptance is education when she says, “We fear what we do not know. It's very important for us to educate people that being a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is not a choice, this is how we are made. When we educate others they become more accepting and inclusive.” This mindset has allowed her to help make our society as a whole more inclusive.
Her work as a Chaplain has also provided much support to many people. She has provided a safe and non-judgmental space for anyone to come to her with their problems and has truly made a difference in many people's lives through this. As a Chaplain, she has also been an officiate of many same-sex marriages. She has done so much to change the lives of others.
Through her advocacy, we can see that Captain Beatrice Gale is a Canadian hero. She is instrumental in changing the way the 2SLGBTIA+ community is treated within the military. Although her main focus through her work is to advocate for the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, she truly is advocating for everyone to love one another. Every policy she changes, every person she educates, and every barrier she breaks further leads us to a country that is free of exclusion and hate. Without Beatrice Gale, Canada would not be the country it is today.
