For immediate release – Lawyers against Transphobia categorically reject the policy changes announced by Danielle Smith in relation to transgender people.

Equality used to mean something.

Discrimination used to be against the law.

But the Alberta government doesn’t care.

Lawyers against Transphobia categorically reject the policy changes announced by Danielle Smith in relation to transgender people.

All of Smith’s policy changes offend the human rights of transgender people. 

And in making those changes, the Alberta government is knowingly, and cynically, breaching the equality rights of transgender people under the Charter of Rights.

Smith’s changes

• • Discriminate against trans youth by substituting her own judgement for the judgement of medical professionals who deliver gender affirming care
    
    

• • Discriminatorily deny the autonomy of trans students and the judgement of teachers by requiring teachers to ‘out’ trans students to their parents
    
    

• • Deny students the right to learn about sexual orientation and gender identities different than their own
    
    

• • Discriminate against transwomen in sport on the basis of no evidence at all
    
    

We join with Sheila Greckol, former justice of the Court of Appeal in Alberta, who said that these changes “sends a strong and sinister message to Albertans that it is permissible, even acceptable, to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.  To members of the trans community, the message is they are less than equal members of our society.”

Smith’s  policies run roughshod over the entire medical profession and the entire education system.  She substitutes her own judgement for the judgement of doctors who work with transgender youth.  She interferes with the professional judgement of teachers whose job it is to protect their students.

Smith is meddling with the law in Alberta about the rights of youth to consent to medical treatment.  If a youth is a mature minor, they are entitled to direct their own medical care.

But not if Smith disagrees with that youth and their medical care provider. 

Her newly-announced policies will make it impossible for Alberta youth to get the gender-affirming care that they need.  The policy changes have been denounced by every major medical association in Canada. 

Her policy to ‘out’ trans kids at school to their parents will put the trans kids whose parents don’t support them at risk:  those kids literally have nowhere else to go to be safe. 

And her policy outlawing transwomen in sports are a blatant, cynical, and groundless attempt to paint trans women as a threat to cisgender women in sport.

 Canada’s guarantees to all Canadians that their governments will respect their rights to equality is a fundamental part of the Canadian constitution.  Any government initiative to discriminate against a marginalized community is an affront to the dignity and equality of every citizen.

For comment:

Susanna Quail               604 424-8631   saquail@aqrlaw.ca       

barbara findlay KC         778 968 1060    bjf@barbarafindlay.com