I’ve been doing queer & trans advocacy for over ten years. As I slowly make my exit from this part of my life, I thought I’d share some observations. Mostly dispelling misconceptions I inherited from media.
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2020!
This was a weird year; we’ve been in lockdown over the pandemic since mid-March. Despite it all this has been an eventful year for me.
I had these plans for years to move to New Zealand this fall to work but the country shut their borders to immigration to control the spread of the virus. There’s no indicator yet as to when they’ll open and even when they do it doesn’t look good for me. The fallback plan is Vancouver.
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Conservatives in Parliament: A Case Study with Bill C-6
Passing through the federal legislature is Bill C-6, a law to make involuntary conversion therapy illegal. It addresses a real need: 8% of trans and non-binary youth 14-24 have undergone conversion therapy.
The bill passed second reading and is now with the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in the House of Commons. Of surprise was that 96 of 121 Conservative MPs voted in favour of second reading given that the party has opposed every bill protecting trans and non-binary people in the past decade, albeit in declining numbers:
- Bill C-389 in 2010: 127 of 141 (90%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
- Bill C-389 in 2011: 126 of 143 (88%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
- Bill C-279 in 2012: 132 of 164 (80%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
- Bill C-279 in 2013: 133 of 164 (81%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
- Bill C-16 in 2016: 40 of 97 (41%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
- Bill C-6 in 2020: 7 of 121 (5%) Conservative MPs opposed it.
The failed C-389 and C-279 as well as the successful C-16 were all efforts to add gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act. At this juncture, it looks probable that Bill C-6 will become law: it’s a government bill, the votes are there, the committee it was referred to is chaired by a Liberal, and there’s no election in the forecast.
Despite the votes in favour, Conservatives haven’t changed their rhetoric from the days of opposing protections. Perhaps it’s to permit a later retraction of support like we saw with their provincial counterparts in Ontario. Perhaps they want to both-side it and appease those in favour of equality with their votes, and those opposed to with their speeches. Perhaps they actually oppose it, but since they lack the votes to kill it as they did previous legislation, there’s nothing to gain by voting against it except bad press. Whatever the reason, this article will go over the rhetorical devices they use in Parliament.
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Map of transphobic harassment in Ottawa-Gatineau
There’s now a crowd-sourced map that documents transphobic harassment encountered in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. You can access the map through this link. If you’d like to share your experiences of transphobia for this, please reach out to me. The more the better.
This is intended as an advocacy tool. It’s been my experience that cis people are often surprised at hearing experiences of transphobia, and believe it’s one-offs by a few bad actors. In reality, it’s pervasive and a reflection of deeply held beliefs around gender norms that people feel compelled to police.
Use this tool as best you see fit. Be conscientious of any identifying information you share about yourself when contributing, as this is publicly accessible.
Update
A nice video was made about this project by journalism students Hannah Rivkin, Kayla Holmes and Kevin O’Rourke McColl:
