Bill 10 a start, but much more can be done, advocates say
Some insist trans terms need to be enshrined in Charter of Rights
As Edmonton’s Pride Festival gets underway, many people are applauding new amendments that strengthen the rights of transgender people in Alberta, but say more needs to be done to ensure they’re protected.
When Bill 10 came into effect June 1, it enshrined the words “gender identity” and “gender expression” in the bill of rights, making both prohibited grounds for discrimination. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal experience, which doesn’t always match the gender at birth.
Gender expression refers to how someone outwardly shows their gender.
Proponents say the move is important because it gives recourse to a segment of society that has traditionally faced discrimination and marginalization.
“When you don’t have specific groups enumerated in rights legislation, unfortunately the history has been it’s difficult to prove they should be covered under it,” said Angela Reid, with the Trans Equality Society of Alberta.
The next step, she said, is to extend those terms in Alberta’s Human Rights Act, a piece of legislation that is more broadly applied. While the bill of rights applies to Crown operations and provincial legislation, it doesn’t apply to discrimination that might happen in a restaurant or other private business.
Reid said the changes have raised questions now that the province can’t discriminate based on gender identity or expression. How will officials house transgender inmates in provincial jails, for example.
Alberta Justice spokesman Dan Laville said all inmates meet with a health care professional when they are admitted to a correctional facility.
“People have to really start thinking through their own beliefs.” MARNI PANAS
“A physician and/or psychiatrist will follow up with the individual and will recommend male or female accommodation based on their clinical finds,” he said in an email. Reid said that approach could result in an inmate being placed among a gender they don’t identify with.
“It’s the kind of policy that sounds reasonable on the surface, but allows for serious problems in implementation,” Reid said.
Celebrities like Laverne Cox, who plays a transgender prison inmate on Netflix series Orange is the New Black, and Caitlyn Jenner, who will soon star in her own reality show, have helped propel these issues into the spotlight.
Closer to home, debates about how to ensure the rights of transgender people have also played out publicly.
Last month the Edmonton Catholic school board found itself the target of protest after a transgender girl in Grade 2 was told she couldn’t use the girls washroom. The board eventually relented but not before a trustee broke ranks to speak out about the student’s treatment.
Marni Panas, a transgender woman who was part of those protests, said the issues facing transgender people are becoming more visible.
“When you see government put that into their language, then it starts to change the conversation that the rest of society has. And people have to really start thinking through their own beliefs.”