City solidifying protocol on transgender rights

Newly drafted policy centres on ‘equitable, fair, respectful treatment’

The city is getting closer to solidifying its promised transgender and gender nonconforming protocol.

The goal of the newly drafted policy — which was pledged by the city as part of a settlement with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario last year — is to “ensure the equitable, fair, and respectful treatment of all persons who work at or otherwise interact with the city as a resident or service user.”

The protocol focuses on internal employee relations as well as external customer service guidelines. This includes a commitment to ensure safe access to public bathrooms and change rooms for transgender and gender nonconformist people.

Coun. Aidan Johnson, who has worked closely with staff on the city’s new guidelines, said he is “proud” of the progress so far.

“This is about ensuring everyone — particularly vulnerable young people — understands that they are welcome,” Johnson said.

A local transgender woman filed an official complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario last October after she was barred by a security guard from using the women’s bathroom at the MacNab Street bus terminal downtown.

The city settled that action earlier this year, and while the majority of the terms were confidential, the municipality apologized and publicly committed to “codify” its policies around transgender rights.

Clara Matheson, the lawyer for the complainant — who has not been identified — said in a statement at the time that the resolution sends a “strong message” that should encourage municipalities generally to review their policies.

“It’s really about inclusion, and a person’s human right to be treated with dignity and respect,” said Matheson, who works with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.

In 2012, the Ontario legislature passed Toby’s Act, amending the province’s human rights code to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.

As a result, trans people have the legal right to use a washroom or change room based on their selfidentified gender.

Egale Canada — a charity that promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans rights — was commissioned to help shape this draft of the protocol.

The next step for the city will be to get official feedback from the LGBTQ advisory committee (which received a draft of the protocol last month), as well as the Ontario Human Rights Commission and an outside human rights adviser.

Violetta Nikolskaya, chair of the city’s LGBTQ advisory committee, acknowledges the committee’s current membership does not reflect Hamilton’s trans or non-conforming communities. That’s why the committee is reaching out to those who will be directly affected by the protocol for feedback.

“It is so important to stress the need to amplify the voices and concerns of those who will be directly impacted,” Nikolskaya said in an email Sunday. A concern is how the protocol will be applied, she said.

Councillors will review the refined protocol at a general issues committee meeting in the new year.