Gender identity is not just ‘ideology,’ it’s a lived reality

It is appalling that many think this vital human rights staple should be debated at all

Recently, the KW Trans Health Initiative Committee, together with many community partners, held the inaugural transgender health and wellness conference in Kitchener.

That an event like this was supported in our community would suggest we have made progress in our understanding and support of diverse gender identities and expressions.

Yet a decision by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party at its convention suggests this kind of progress is uneven.

The party voted in favour of debating Tanya Granic Allen’s resolution asking that references to gender identity theory be removed from the sex-ed curriculum because it is a “Liberal ideology.”

Even though Premier Doug Ford says he will not let this resolution proceed further, it is appalling that many in the Conservative party think that gender identity theory should be debated at all.

How can something that is already protected in the Canadian Human Rights Act be debated? How can something experienced by an estimated one in 200 adults in North America be debated?

Granic Allen’s resolution also was disturbing because it was put forward by someone who describes herself as a parental rights advocate.

Whose parental rights are being defended? What about the rights of the parents of transgender children? What about the rights and well-being of those children?

What are we so afraid of ? Is it really age-inappropriate to sensitively teach children about gender identity and expression in a way that encourages kindness and understanding and that may also validate the lived experiences of some children?

The truth is that children who do not fit the gender binary usually perceive this inwardly at a young age. I am the parent of a transgender child, and with his permission, I am sharing a story about him.

When my transgender child was eight years old and in Grade 2, his teacher read the class a fictional story about a boy who died and then came back to Earth as a girl. My transgender child, whose sex was female at the time but who had inwardly felt like a boy since the age of two, remembers feeling a sense of joy.

He thought, “Maybe I could somehow change into a boy.” Then the teacher finished the story and said, “But that could never happen.”

At age eight, my child’s hope for the possibility of being his authentic self was crushed. He was 19 before he got the nerve to tell us about his inner reality.

Parents, consider this startling statistic. According to a 2012 study by Trans Pulse, 57 per cent of the trans youth they interviewed, whose parents were not strongly supportive, said they had attempted suicide within the past year.

That statistic dropped to four per cent for trans youth whose parents were strongly supportive.

Given this knowledge about the detrimental impact on our children of not understanding and supporting diverse gender identity and expression, wouldn’t it be better to have gender identity theory openly taught in our sex-ed curriculum so children can feel safe to talk to us?

For children who do not fit the gender binary, understanding and affirmation can literally save their life.

For cisgender children, learning about other identities and expressions fosters inclusion and equity. Gender identity theory is not a “Liberal ideology.” It is a lived reality and a human right.