Some trans stories from Canada that might be of interest to trans and non-binary communities. This section was created November 2020, as I debated for a long time whether I had the time or ability to adequately cover such a large, diverse country. If you’re tuning in from somewhere in the country with a story you’d like to share, I’d love to hear it!

October 2024 Provincial Elections

Transphobe Moe wins in Saskatchewan

Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party are projected to win 32 seats in Saskatchewan, one more than required for a majority, but a step back from the 48 seats they won in 2020. The vote was generally divided along urban and rural lines.

Earlier in the month, Moe stated that his first order of business if elected would be “a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls.” He made this promise, which wasn’t in his Pary’s platform, after he outed two kids of an NDP candidate when he’d heard of a changing room incident in a Saskatchewan school.

Ah Conservatives. They never take the high road when a low one is available.

As j skelton, professor of queer studies in education at the University of Regina observed ,”It is imagining some biological certainty about bodies. It pretends we are all binary. It pretends there’s some biological truth that they know about people. And it also sort of claims that trans people are duplicitous.” Yup.

In August 2023, the Saskatchewan government adopted a policy called “Use of Preferred First Name and Pronouns by Students.” The Policy only permitted school personnel to refer to a trans, non-binary, or gender-diverse student under the age of 16 by their proper name and pronouns if their parent consented. It also required school personnel to seek parental consent when a student asked that their “preferred name, gender identity, and/or gender expression be used.”

After a judge paused the policy because the youth affected would suffer “irreparable harm”, Moe’s government enshrined the policy in law. The government also preemptively invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter regarding sections 7 and 15, so that even if the legislation does infringe students’ rights to security of the person and equality, it cannot be struck down in court as unconstitutional.

In February of this year, the Court of King’s Bench permitted a constitutional challenge by the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity to proceed. Saskatchewan then applied for UR Pride’s challenge to be dismissed, saying that the courts no longer have any role or jurisdiction. The Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench disagreed and refused to dismiss the case.

New Brunswickers toss out their transphobic Premier

On October 21st, New Brunswickers got rid of the Conservative government of Blaine Higgs and elected a Liberal majority. Higgs was defeated in his own riding of Quispamsis, the first time since 1987 that a sitting New Brunswick Premier lost in their own riding.

The Higgs government wasn’t always a disaster, but like all Conservative governments lately, the far right tail eventually begins to wag what was once the sensible dog. In 2022, Higgs welcomed two People’s Alliance MLAs into his caucus, including leader Kris Austin, whose past criticism of bilingualism was understandably controversial in Canada’s only bilingual province. Austin later took credit for pulling the PC Party further to the right, a dubious achievement to be sure.

Then in 2023, Higgs pushed ahead with changes to Policy 713, about gender identity in schools, in which students under 16 needed to get their parents’ permission to have teachers and staff use their chosen names and pronouns. This ignored a compromise made with his own caucus to adopt a more cautious approach. Six Tory members voted against Higgs on the issue in the legislature. Two ministers quit.

This then opened the party to newcomers like Christian conservative activist Faytene Grasseschi and others of her ilk. In July 2023, Christian conservative groups expressed their support for the Higgs government and began recruiting  for him. Because what New Brunswick really needed was more religion in government.

Grassechi is a piece of work. In her 2009 book Marked, she wrote that the legalization of same-sex marriage “gave sodomistic strongholds greater leverage and greater access over the mindsets of the citizens of Canada.” Further, she suggested the 2005 legislation could lead to people marrying animals, including “man and dog, woman and fish,” and said she would continue fighting to reverse it.
Grassechi was defeated by John Herron, one of those principled former Conservatives we used to have in this country. Herron quit the federal Conservatives 20 years ago because of his loathing of far right politics.

Good riddance to the lot of them, and thank you New Brunswick!

 

March 2023 – Ontario

It is no secret that school boards are being targeted by haters and the far right (probably synonymous terms) as the most vulnerable places to attack the inclusion of trans people.

In early March, parents angry over “safe spaces” for LGBTQ students disrupted a York Catholic board meeting, saying LGBTQ inclusive messages are at odds with their Catholic faith. The CBC reported that parent Sheree di Vittorio told the board, “Catholic schools should not allow transgender or LGBT students to attend.”

Yes, and the Ontario government should defund Catholic schools as religious bigotry is incompatible with a secular society.

Meanwhile in Ottawa, police were called to a meeting of Ottawa’s public school board after a man who’d signed up to speak about policies on bullying questioned the use of washrooms by trans students. Trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-myrth, who was acting chair, cut his microphone and asked for a recess. “There was no way to frame it other than transphobia,” the Ottawa Citizen reported Kaplan-myrth saying. “This space has to be a respectful space.”

Well, that got the transphobes into a proper tizzy. They created two online petitions demanding Dr. Kaplan-myrth’s resignation. The petitions were later removed. One comment on the petition spoke volumes about the quality of the dissent: “Communists need to be purged from public life in this country.” Sounds like the trucker convoy was back in town.

There is a silver lining to this story, however. In the follow up meeting March 29 – Dr. Kaplan-myrth was still there, fortunately – more supporters showed up than haters. The Ottawa Citizen reported trans woman Phoebe Qiao saying she thought the evening was a success for the trans community. “Allies and trans people and queer people in general showed up in droves in solidarity.”

March 20, 2023 – Prince Edward Island

An example of the ease with which trans rights are dismissed or not taken seriously occurred in Prince Edward Island when PEI Progressive Conservative leader Dennis King was heard saying, “you don’t gotta drive everything down everybody’s throat” when talking about trans issues.

Is that what he’d say about Black people too?

Lucky Fusca, the executive director of the P.E.I. Transgender Network, called Kings comments “spineless”.

Although unrelated to this particular conversation, Pride P.E.I. said the organization no longer wants political leaders to participate in the Island’s annual Pride Parade. “In recent years, Pride P.E.I. has been proud to have representation from all of the Island’s major political parties in the parade, but sadly, this symbolic form of allyship has not been followed up with tangible efforts to address the rise in hate speech and acts of violence directed at our community,”

Good decision.

March 14, 2023 – Quebec

In 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Quebec government gave $143,000 to PDF Québec (Pour les droits des femmes du Québec), a group supposedly promoting women’s rights that issued vile and hateful tweets against trans activist Fae Johnstone.

The CBC reviewed PDF Québec’s Twitter and ‘confirmed there were a series of personal attacks on trans activists. PDF Québec also shares resources encouraging trans people to detransition and refers to gender surgeries as “mutilations.”’ They also lobbied against the province’s ban on conversion therapy for trans folks in 2019. Oh, but when this became widely reported, the tweets magically disappeared and PDF Québec issued a statement saying, “PDF Québec does not attack people in their lives, or in their choice of sexual orientation or gender identity. On the contrary, we want everyone to live with dignity and without discrimination.” Not just transphobes, liars too!

It seems to me that when the light comes on, a lot of transphobes scurry away like cockroaches. You can’t erase what you said, however. Quebec’s Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity said, “Given the situation, an analysis will therefore be done prior to possible renewal of the PDF Québec grant agreement.”

March 9, 2023 – British Columbia

Good news for a change! B.C. has introduced a bill to stop requiring sex markers on birth certificates. The changes would bring B.C. in line with Ontario and Nova Scotia.

“The government is committed to supporting the health and well-being of two-spirit, transgender, intersex, non-binary and gender-diverse people and making B.C. a more inclusive province when it comes to gender identity,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said.

Feb 25, 2023 – Alberta

Finally, a man accused of hate-motivated crimes at drag storytime won’t commit to staying away from LGBTQ events.

According to Calgary police, on February 25^th Derek Reimer and others “aggressively entered a library classroom”, shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs at the children and parents in attendance, “scaring the children while causing a disturbance and subsequently refusing to leave.”

Reimer faces six counts of harassment under Calgary’s Public Behaviour Bylaw, which includes prohibiting the harassment of anyone on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression.

Over the years, Reimer has been convicted of numerous offences, including causing suffering to a dog, assault causing bodily harm, and two counts of aggravated assault.

Nice guy. A shining example to all transphobes.

March 2022 – Winning design for LGBTQ2+ national monument revealed

The LGBTQ2 monument will be a lasting testimony to the courage and humanity of those who were harmed by the LGBT Purge, homophobic and transphobic laws and norms, and Canada’s colonial history.

February 2022 – Saskatchewan. No sex designation on driver’s license or Saskatchewan Government Insurance issued photo ID cards. 

October 2021 – British Columbia. B.C. Human Rights Commission awards $30K to a non-binary server who was fired after asking to be addressed by their correct pronoun.

August 2021 – The Trans Canada Project strives to tell the stories of trans, 2 spirit, and non-binary Canadians through an episodic, documentary video series.

August 2021 – Some thoughts on Bill C-6, the failed attempt to ban conversion therapy in Canada, and more particularly the role the Conservative Party had in it.

May 2021 – The Census: Count me in! My blog post on the 2021 census.

March 2021 – Trans people struggling during pandemic (Toronto)

January 2021 – Ontario. Jamie and Ruby Alexander are a Toronto father-daughter team that designs swimsuits for trans kids. The two are behind Rubies, a fashion business that specializes in formfitting clothing for trans and non-binary girls. Twelve-year-old Ruby, who came out when she was nine, said she was proud that trans kids could take part in activities without worrying about what they were wearing.

Ruby’s dad teamed up with Ryerson University’s Fashion Zone to design prototypes for bathing suit bottoms that use “a soft compression to provide a worry free fit.” Rubies has sold roughly 1,000 swimsuits in its first year. The company is also expanding into T-shirts and underwear.

Ruby writes a personal message to accompany every shipment. “There’s other trans kids in the world that need help, and I’m happy to see them smile, and I’m proud to be the person I am,” she said.

January 2021 – British Columbia. The City of Victoria’s new Youth Poet Laureate is trans! James Summer was named to the post, a one year honorary position that will see him engage with local youth through the written and spoken word. Summer was chosen by a peer committee of representatives from Victoria’s writing community and will receive a $1,750 honorarium, as well as $2,000 of project funding. Summer said he hopes “to bring awareness about the topic of being transgender and to have important conversations about stigma and labels.”

January 2021 – Quebec Ringette

January 2021 – Quebec Superior Court Justice Gregory Moore has given Quebec until the end of 2021 to revise several sections of the Civil Code of Quebec because they discriminate against trans and non-binary people. His ruling invalidated several articles, including one that prevented a person from changing the sex listed on their birth certificate. Moore also struck down the provision that requires someone to be identified as a mother or a father on a declaration of birth, rather than being referred to as a parent. The judge further ruled that people should be allowed to change their gender designation, even if they are not Canadian citizens, opening the door to permanent residents, refugees and people without status.

December 2020 – Canadian publishing industry supports trans, non-binary communities

November 2020 – Transgender publishing alive and well in B.C.

November 2020 – Nova Scotia has expanded the criteria for breast reduction covered by the provincial health insurance plan.

People who are diagnosed with “persistent and well-documented gender dysphoria” and are approved for a breast reduction surgery will now be covered. Nova Scotia already covers breast augmentation surgery for transgender women and chest masculinization or mastectomy surgery for transgender men.

The new coverage provides an option for nonbinary individuals who wish to access breast reduction procedures. The change comes after Sebastian Gaskarth, a non-binary individual, made a complaint to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. Gaskarth said the coverage “directly acknowledges that gender does not exist as a binary.”

October 2020 – Backxwash wins Polaris Music Prize

October 2020 – Bill to ban conversion therapy introduced

August 2020 – Dr. Lorne Warneke, friend to Alberta trans community, dies