Pride: Daughter of a BC wine pioneer, Darrien McWatters finds happiness through transitioning and TIME
The operations manager for TIME Family of Wines, whose father was Harry McWatters, identifies as a transgender woman; hopes to help others with her story
Darrien McWatters is operations manager for TIME Family of Wines, based in Penticton.
DARRIEN MCWATTERS AND her father were close.
McWatters’ last name is familiar to anyone who follows local wine; her dad, the late Harry McWatters, remains a legend. Considered the grandfather of B.C.’s modern wine industry, he was CEO and president of Evolve Cellars, TIME Winery, and the McWatters Collection, now all under of the TIME Family of Wines; he was founding chair of landmark organizations like the BC Wine Institute, VQA Canada, and the BC Hospitality Foundation. He passed away in 2019, after his 51st vintage. She grew up working in the vineyards and on the bottling line alongside him, and today works as TIME Family of Wines’ operations manager.
In one of the last conversations McWatters had with her father, he told her that he had never seen her so happy. The memory of those words, and the significance of his sentiment, still bring her to tears.
Assigned male at birth, McWatters discovered within herself to be transgender in 2017, when she was 43 years old. A parent of two adult children, she now identifies as transgender woman, having begun her transition in late 2018.
Her family’s acceptance and openness reaffirmed her decision to come out to the world as her true self.
“I started transitioning just before my dad passed away,” McWatters tells Stir via Zoom from Penticton. “He said he has never seen me so happy. My kids have never seen me so happy. I’m happy with who I am. Everything changed within me as far as my outlook on life, who I am as a person, and what I have to offer to people, including in a relationship.
“I just learned to be genuine,” she says. “I wear my emotions on my sleeves. This is who I am. There’s no hiding it.”
McWatters, who says that the first person she came out to was herself, told her best friend next. She began telling close family members and close friends, including Laurence Buehler, the company’s winemaker at the time. She was worried about the potential of her coming out to negatively affect the family business.
“He said, “if you ever think to put the company image before who you truly think you are, don’t. The business will survive,’” she recalls. “Don’t ever hide who you are.”
Her first name is symbolic and special: born Darren, she changed it completely simply by adding the letter “I”.
“The I stands for identity,” McWatters says. “It’s who I am.”
Darrien McWatters (right) with her sister, Christa-Lee McWatters.
McWatters works closely with her older sister, Christa-Lee McWatters, who is TIME Family of Wines’ general manager. (Ron and Shelley Mayert own TIME, where Lynzee Schatz is the winemaker. See Stir’s article on Schatz here.)
In addition to handling the business’s operations, McWatters, who recently had gender reassignment surgery, is becoming more of an advocate. She wants to reach as many people as she can with her story of acceptance, hope, and happiness, particularly youth who may be struggling or who many not have a safe place to go, not even at home.
A long-time volunteer fire-fighter, McWatters is an avid hockey player, a sport she has played since she was eight. Today she plays on the South Okanagan Black Widows, a women’s team. She shares the love of ice hockey with her sons, aged 18 and 20 (and who still make “dad” jokes, she says with a laugh).
Through her passion for the sport, she discovered an organization called Team Trans Ice Hockey, which is made up of transgender or non-binary identifying players, including the first transgender woman to play professional hockey, Jessica Platt. McWatters was invited to participate in the second gathering of Team Trans in Wisconsin last April, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. She’s hoping to develop a local chapter of Team Trans Ice Hockey, believing that hockey is for everyone.
She also sponsors the Team Trans Ice Hockey Bursary at Summerland Secondary School. The recipient of the annual $500 award will be a graduating student of her former high school who self-identifies as part of the 2SLGBTQAI+ community or who is a strong ally.
McWatters has raised funds for organizations such as Etcetera Youth Kelowna (where those aged 11 to 18 who are 2SLGBTQIA+, questioning their gender, or allies can connect with supportive peers); RADAR Youth Penticton (which provides a safe, positive, and social space for youth of all identities aged 12 to 18); and Friends of Dorothy Langley Youth Hub, an inclusive and safe space on the Lower Mainland for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth aged 12 to 24.
McWatters and her girlfriend, who are celebrating their first anniversary together, are taking part in Vancouver Pride Festival events; although it’s the fourth year she has been out as transgender, this is the first time she’ll be participating in person. (Last year she took part virtually.)
For anyone looking for a wine recommendation to celebrate Pride, McWatters points to the Evolve Cellars’ Pink Effervescence. A blend of 50 percent Pinot Blanc, 30 percent Merlot, and 20 percent Chardonnay, it has hints of peach and ripe berries. “You don’t need a special day for bubbles,” she says. “You can’t go wrong with this one. Effervescence is a gorgeous pink colour—I love the colour pink—and it’s just delicious.”
McWatters is also writing a book, based on what began as a journal about her journey toward transitioning (and what will be tentatively titled Sorry I Was Such a Dick When I Had One).
“I want to be the voice for those who feel they don’t have a voice,” McWatters says. “If I just help one person, it will be worth it. And I know I’ve already helped one person, because I helped myself.”
Here’s a bubbly to celebrate Pride 2021.
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