Because the Learn section of TalkRights features content produced by CCLA volunteers and interviews with experts in their own words, opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the CCLA’s own policies or positions. For official publications, key reports, position papers, legal documentation, and up-to-date news about the CCLA’s work check out the In Focus section of our website.
In recent years, the LGBT+ population has made tremendous civil liberties strides in Canada and elsewhere. In the West, particularly, they are more acknowledged than ever before and their realities are now at the forefront of policymaking. Entrenching LGBT+ perspectives in law naturally pushes for a paradigm shift. Singular experiences of the community not previously recognized need to be appreciated by legislators who then may enact new legislation or amend current laws.
These new perspectives should interest us, first, because they are often tied to experiences of discrimination and vilification, which should be prevented and chastised. Most importantly, however, they should be engaged because they fundamentally challenge our assumptions regarding human identity and sexuality and, by extension, the entire body of laws and institutions premised on these ideas.
Below is a compilation of various news sources from across Canada highlighting contemporary challenges and realities faced by transgender and gender non-conforming people on a day-to-day basis, as well as various legislative moves pursued at different levels of government in Canada. The last section of this piece focuses on Bill-16 (also known as An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code), which has been particularly controversial in Canada.
On Transgender Issues Generally
- https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/01/25/is-your-gender-really-necessary-on-a-passport.html
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-prisons-csc-transgender-inmates-1.3909504
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/medicine-hat-judges-ordered-4-year-old-not-to-wear-girls-clothes-in-public-1.3816829
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/transgender-statistics-canada-census-information-data-1.3752975
- https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/protecting-transgender-rights-long-overdue-425446893.html
- https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/time-for-gender-neutral-birth-certificates-436887123.html
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prison-transgender-inmates-policy-1.3932466
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/reassignment-surgery-not-necessary-change-id-nl-1.3533318
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/changing-gender-markers-on-id-can-be-a-challenge-1.3538433
- http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/federal-government-quietly-eases-requirements-for-canadians-seeking-to-change-gender-on-citizen-certificate
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/gender-neutral-bathrooms-university-of-saskatchewan-1.3346134
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskatchewan-transgender-birth-certificates-1.4197130
- https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/25/judge-rules-for-openness-in-custody-case-involving-conflict-over-sons-gender-identity.html
- https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/25/judge-rules-for-openness-in-custody-case-involving-conflict-over-sons-gender-identity.html
- https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/05/04/parents-of-transgender-youth-join-push-to-outlaw-discrimination.html
- https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/05/30/trans-rights-are-womens-rights.html
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/passport-transgender-c16-1.4099066
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/eggen-catholic-sex-education-curriculum-1.4368378
- http://www.journalpioneer.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor/keep-gender-ideology-out-of-pei-schools-67808/
- https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/06/19/ads-challenge-thoughts-about-transgender-torontonians.html
- https://www.cambridgetimes.ca/sports-story/7509501-cambridge-minor-hockey-goes-extra-mile-with-inclusiveness-training/
- https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/gender-neutral-passport-option-to-end-scary-situations-441799683.html
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transgender-rights-bill-senate-1.4163823
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/sturgeon-high-school-washrooms-gender-neutral-alberta-1.4406077
- https://www.straight.com/life/652381/vancouver-school-boards-lgbtq-policy-sparks-debate
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-battle-grips-bcschools/article36681034/
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/preventing-and-ending-discrimination-and-harassment-of-transgender-employees/article36456796/
- http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/10/26/b-c-non-binary-rights-case-launched.html
- http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/being-transgender-in-the-canadian-military/
On Violence Against Trans People
- http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/advocacy-groups-killings-of-transgender-people-increase
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-prisons-csc-transgender-inmates-1.3909504
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-transgender-woman-day-of-remembrance-1.4411235
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transgender-prison-policy-trudeau-1.4075500
- http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/11/19/transgender-canadians-violence-transgender-day-of-remembrance_a_23282367/
- https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/05/30/trans-rights-are-womens-rights.html
Legislation
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/gender-bill-passage-historic-event-for-alberta-transgender-woman-says-1.3354856
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/trans-protocol-council-1.4014315
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/passport-transgender-c16-1.4099066
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/gender-confirming-surgeries-1.3614766
- https://www.telegraphjournal.com/times-transcript/story/49641046/law-would-allow-new?source=story-related
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/guidelines-released-for-mandatory-lgbtq-policies-in-alberta-schools-1.3402154
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-transgender-rights-minor-youths-1.3609154
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-human-rights-code-trans-rights-1.3687613
- http://torontosun.com/2016/11/13/human-rights-commissioner-weighs-in-on-ze-and-hir/wcm/0254ab55-ade7-40f4-b1f3-553b75b10842
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-ndp-to-reinstate-human-rights-commission-after-15-years-1.4236078
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/yukon-moves-to-protect-transgender-rights-ban-gender-based-discrimination/article34307376/
Testimony
- http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/pei-person-wants-to-be-referred-to-as-neither-he-nor-she-but-they-103004/
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-transgender-woman-day-of-remembrance-1.4411235
- http://www.trurodaily.com/living/transgender-a-lifelong-journey-151820/
- https://www.telegraphjournal.com/times-transcript/story/49641046/law-would-allow-new?source=story-related
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/its-2017-and-we-still-need-to-say-it-trans-rights-are-human-rights/article34981938/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/sheesha-yadil/being-transgender-toronto_b_17221690.html
Statistics
Bill C-16 (An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code)
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transgender-bill-trudeau-government-1.3585522
- https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2017/01/15/he-says-freedom-they-say-hate-the-pronoun-fight-is-back.html
- http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/for-transgender-canadians-bill-c-16-is-symbolic-yet-meaningful/
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/university-of-toronto-professor-defends-right-to-use-gender-specific-pronouns/article32946675/
- http://nationalpost.com/opinion/bruce-pardy-meet-the-new-human-rights-where-you-are-forced-by-law-to-use-reasonable-pronouns-like-ze-and-zer
- https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/11/16/laurier-university-starts-independent-probe-after-teaching-assistant-plays-clip-of-gender-debate.html
- http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/what-the-wilfried-laurier-professors-got-wrong-about-bill-c-16-and-gender-identity-discrimination
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
For the Media
For further comments, please contact us at media@ccla.org.
