Updated 2012-06-21 14:25 This list contains current actions in the push for trans equality in Canada. I do not claim this to be a comprehensive list of current action and welcome submissions of other activity that is going on in Canada.
If you know of current actions please add to the comments or contact me directly via Facebook or Google+
Update: This information has also been moved to a post that will always be on the main page of this blog.
I haven’t blogged much over the past month and a half or possibly a bit longer. Life got in the way, plus being ill on and off throughout with a couple of different bugs that were making the rounds.
With all the media attention over the past few weeks around Transport Canada’s regulations that state someone who doesn’t look like the gender in their ID is not permitted to fly I thought I’d take a look at where things stand with regards to transsexual and transgender rights in Canada.
Federally we have seen the spotlight shine on Transport Canada’s regulation. There have been a number of articles and blog posts about it. One result of this regulation being put in the spotlight is that it highlights the problems that someone who transitions has in terms of having identification that reflects who they are. The importance of having a sex marker on one’s identification that matches what one looks like is much more important.
Thanks to Anne’s comment on my post Identification, Sex Marker and Passport Canada I found out about their request for feedback with regards to new fees being proposed with the introduction of e-passports. I read through their proposal and sent a response:
To whom it may concern,
My name is Talia Johnson and I have some concerns about the new ePassport fees, in particular how they impact transsexual people who are in transition and currently are only permitted a two year passport.
Under Passport Canada’s current policies we are only allowed to get a two year passport that cannot be extended. this means that we will be paying $60 per year when the consular fees are included, whereas those who are able to obtain a full ten year passport will only be paying $16 per year.
If these changes take place without changes to the current discriminatory policies of Passport Canada those people who have transitioned, but are unable to have surgery, or are facing delays in having surgery will be facing discrimination to an even greater degree.
Best Regards,
Talia Johnson
This week I received a reply from them that did not address the concern at all, passed the blame to another part of Passport Canada and was, in my opinion, rather insulting and dismissive:
Thank you for your correspondence.
As the issue you raise in your letter is related to entitlement policies, we have transferred your correspondence to the appropriate group. Someone from that group will get back to you soon.
Should you have additional input, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Yours sincerely…
I have not received a response from the group that he mentioned in this email, but it has been only a couple of business days at this point. Realistically I do not expect a response from them until January.
I am also composing a response to the email.
This is another example of why Bill C279 is so important. Rights for Transsexuals and Transgender people must be added to the human rights code. Once the protections are implemented in law getting policies changed will be easier, and challenges under the Canadian Human Rights Act will have a better chance at succeeding.
Bill C279 is currently awaiting second reading in the House of Commons.
With the discussions around the Salvation Army’s treatment of LGBT+ people, and in particular a shelter in Austin refusing a trans woman shelter resulting in her death, I did some digging on the Canadian Salvation Army site and found the following in their position statements:
The Salvation Army upholds the dignity of all persons. For this reason, and in obedience to the example of Jesus Christ, whose compassionate love is all-embracing, The Salvation Army does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in the delivery of its services.
I see no reference on their site except a brief mention of the event (Salvation Army Offers Safety to Winnipeg’s Sex Trade Workers) which was aimed at giving sex workers a safe place in Winnipeg. I decided to use their contact form and sent the following:
Hi,
I am wondering if you provide shelter for transsexual people appropriately? For example, if a transsexual woman seeks help from a women’s shelter would you turn her away because she was born with male anatomy?
Talia Johnson.
It will be interesting to see how they respond and I will post an update if / when I get a response.
Under Canadian law, because they get funding from the government, they MUST adhere to Canadian law around discrimination. (Salvation Army Willing to Hire Gays in Canada)
This video discusses the common objections to boycotting the Salvation Army and provides a rebuttal to them.
Common Objections to Boycotting the Salvation Army
Last week the Australian government announced that they would now have the option for an “X” for sex, meaning indeterminate. They also loosened the requirements to change from one sex to another on the passport. They no longer require SRS. The day after the announcement I was contacted by a reporter from the Globe & Mail newspaper.
I was interviewed over the phone and the article appeared in the Friday newspaper.
With regards to my own dealings with Passport Canada my MP’s office contacted them and were told the same thing I was told. The next step is that my MP will write a personal letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Hon. John Baird. I do not know how long it will take to get a response, if any.
Part of the process of transition, after the name change, but before one travels outside the country, is getting a new passport. Sounds simple, right? Maybe, maybe not. The application fee for a Canadian passport is currently $85 (Aug. 2011). Not a tonne of money, but noticeable when you’re on a budget. I decided to contact Passport Canada prior to applying for the passport to ensure that the gender marker on the passport would be the correct one – female.
I sent the following question to Passport Canada using their website on August 8th.
I have changed my name and have transitioned from male to female since my previous passport expired.
I would like my new passport, when I apply, to have my gender properly indicated. What will I need to provide?
One of the ongoing problems for transsexual people is being ‘outed’ when they show ID.
When one is transitioning there comes a point where a legal name change takes place. In Ontario this means filling out an application, having a guarantor / reference attest that they know you, signing the document and having it witnessed by a commissioner of oaths. Send it off along with the required fee and, all going well it goes through and you get your new birth certificate and a change of name certificate. Sounds wonderful until you dig a little bit deeper.
What happens when you try to have your sex changed? Now things get a wee bit more complicated. For one’s driver’s license a letter from your doctor stating that you are on hormones and living as the desired sex on the license is enough to get the license changed when you bring it along with change of name certificate and old driver’s license to the appropriate licensing location. For the health card I was told when I went to have the name changed that the sex should stay as “Male” to ensure that procedures I may need while I still have male genitals will be covered. The requirements to change the birth certificate are rather more intrusive. In a nutshell Section 36 of the Ontario Vital Statistics Act, RSO 1990 requires that:
Where the anatomical sex structure of a person is changed to a sex other than that which appears on the registration of birth, the person may apply to the Registrar General to have the designation of sex on the registration of birth changed so that the designation will be consistent with the results of the transsexual surgery.
What this means is that any time a person who is medically transitioning and has legally changed their name is required to present their birth certificate they have to out themselves as being transsexual. It also leads to some confusion if one has to present two pieces of identification. I present the driver’s license, it says female, present birth certificate, it says male. How to confuse a person in one easy step. It also leaves one open to potential harassment and discrimination.
Other provinces are even more stringent. New Brunswick requires that the driver’s license gender matches the birth certificate – which can only be changed after surgery. Saskatchewan also requires a “full transition” (see Transgender person seeks provincial ID change) which means full surgery. This has a negative impact on those who either do not desire to have SRS or are unable to undergo the surgery due to medical or other reasons – often financial.
The laws that dictate how one changes the gender marker on vital identification are overdue for an overhaul. For those in Canada I urge you to write to your MPP, MLA etc. and push for this change. Many provinces also do not protect transgender / transsexual rights in their human rights code, and the legislation federally to add protection to the federal human rights legislation died in the Senate with the dissolution of parliament and election this spring.
This doesn’t even begin to discuss the problem that those who are transgender and do not desire to transition face when they have to show identification when they are not presenting as the gender on their identification – something which also needs to be addressed.
Talia Johnson.
With my transition proceeding quite well, I thought I’d expand the scope of my blog. This post is the start of an added focus on spousal abuse.
Just last week we saw this in the Ottawa news Ottawa Woman Stabbed to Death.
I know a number of women who have fled abuse. One person I know has criminal charges pending against her ex.
In 2007, nearly 40,200 incidents of spousal violence (i.e., violence against legally married, common-law, separated and divorced partners) were reported to police. This represents about 12% of all police-reported violent crime in Canada.
source: Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile
Where is our federal government’s vaunted law and order programme to help with this?
We hear about abuse in the news only when there is a death. Our society seems to ignore this. This is wrong. It also does not help that abusers do everything they can think of – to the point of insanity – to try and shut up their exes and their exes’ friends. I propose to put an end to this. They also pursue litigation for years, looking for any excuse to take their victim back in to court. This is all too common.
Some people start blogs about this, and a few people I know have considered starting new blogs. This is also a risk because there are some abusers who will target these blogs and try to demand they be removed even if there are no names mentioned and the blog is posted under a pseudonym.
Help for Victims of Violence Against Women is a resource page for those in Ottawa.
For those in Toronto The Assaulted Women’s Help Line is an invaluable resource.