End to transphobia: discussion between Elijah Renard and Patrick Verret

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Tuesday, January 20th 2015 at café-bar L’Escalier in Montréal, my cameras and I were witness to a very important discussion between Elijah Renard and Patrick Verret, two very involved individuals in our changing society. The atmosphere at the café, although a bit noisy for my digital recorder, was the perfect backdrop for a dialog between these two passionate and heartfelt individuals.

Elijah Renard, trans guy, is currently involved in the defense of rights and liberties of trans individuals through activities linked to his crowdfunding campaign called ‘’Freekitties’’. Added to the recent article on the National Post, Elijah’s story is making waves in the social medias thanks to articles found by Xojane, o.canada.com and through the series of  videos reports i produced and Elijah called ‘Entretien avec un trans’.

Patrick Verret, man since the age of 39, contributes to the hopes of generations of young people living with gender dysphoria through his conferences and the publication of his book. His activities have led him to be interviewed on Radio-Canada with Maude Montembeault. More recently, Patrick Verret and his better-half, Claudine Limoges, have given some insights on their relationship and on the creative process behind the  writing of their book ‘’ Changing sex to finally live ‘’  in an interview on the francophone web show ‘’Blackburn Podcast’’, which i produced alongside Chantal Paquin.

Elijah Renard & Patrick Verret @ L’escalier Montreal 2015 – Photo Eric Mailhot

The discussion went amazingly well as the two men nearly spent two hours exchanging life experiences and communicating their hopes in light of the ever present intolerance which still plagues our society in 2015. Early in the evening, there was even the visit by Pierre Blackburn, host of the Blackburn Podcast. It was during the recording of an episode of the show, with guest Patrick Verret, where i truly came to understand the difficult realities of ”trans” individuals. So it was basically thanks to Patrick that I was inspired, months later, to invest time in Elijah’s crowd funding campaign called ”Freekitties”. Which brings us back to this very important meeting at café L’Escalier.

I feel fortunate to be surrounded by people who possess a good moral sense and values. The way I see it, compassion and an open mind are but a few of the human qualities everybody should learn to understand and promote. I would even go as to suggest that it has now become our duty as citizens to counter-balance the lack of education and awareness in our social institutions. I hope that this unexpected interview between two fascinating people will be allowed to contribute to the elevation of human intellect and the realization the treatment which is much too often given to those that fail to fall in line with the majority. I will keep you informed as soon as I am done editing the interview.

Thank you Chantal Paquin, co-producer of the Blackburn Podcast, to have contributed to the meeting between Elijah and Patrick. I invite you to go have a look at the photos on my Flickr page. Have a look at Patrick’s webpage and buy his book! If you wish to pledge your support to Elijah Renard’s Free Kitties campaign, please go visit his Indiegogo page today! Follow the Blackburn Podcast on twitter and on Facebook. As always, visit my online portfolio at www.ericzone.com and visit my professional Facebook page and click like in order to keep in touch.

Connections

Having a rich page of links on your website isn’t pretentious nor is it a superfluous attempt at showing off. In fact, i think it indicates a person’s willingness and desire to reach out and to get in touch with other like-minded individuals. Building a link index is also an excellent opportunity for some introspection. In turn, this offers a chance to realize just how much humane collaborations benefit artistic endeavors. I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside great people in the past few years and the ericzone.com link page is in sort, a dedication to my connections.  All of this being said, i must admit that I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetics of how icons look when they are collected and placed alphabetically on a web page. Feel free to have a look and do not hesitate to write if you would like to connect.

Posséder une page web riche en liens n’est pas prétentieux et ça n’est pas non plus une tentative d’exhibition inutile. En fait, je pense que cela démontre la volonté d’une personne et son désir d’entrer en contact avec des individus qui partagent les mêmes ambitions. La création d’un index de liens est également une excellente occasion pour faire un peu de travail d’introspection qui, en retour, offre une chance de réaliser à quel point les collaborations humaines contribuent positivement aux projets artistiques. J’ai eu l’occasion de travailler aux côtés des gens formidables au cours des dernières années et la page de liens ericzone.com est en quelque sorte, une dédicace à ces connexions. Ceci étant dit, je dois admettre que j’ai toujours aimé l’esthétique visuelle d’une page web lorsqu’elle est remplie d’une belle collection d’icônes placés par ordre alphabétique. N’hésitez pas à y jeter un coup d’oeil et n’hésitez pas non plus à m’écrire si vous souhaitez connecter.