10. Which three provinces and/or territories have enacted or formally proposed measures to restrict student’s autonomy around name and pronouns at school?
New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
Image: a map showing the risk of anti-trans legislation in Canada. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick are highlighted in red as “high risk”. Quebec and Ontario are highlighted in pale red as “moderate risk.” Nova Scotia is highlighted in pale orange as “medium-low risk”. All other provinces and territories are shaded light blue to indicate “low risk”. (Nunavut is unshaded).
Towards the end of my original history presentation, I incorporated a section called “History in the Making” about current issues impacting queer and trans Canadians. Unfortunately, rising opposition to trans rights in Canada is not new. Last winter, a public Drag Storytime event in Ottawa was protested, and last summer a series of protests outside of Ottawa schools against “gender ideology” followed by the “1 Million March 4 Children” have certainly shown that the anti-trans contingent in Canada, though small, is awfully motivated.
And these contingents also seem to have the ear of some particularly powerful people: namely, the premiers of at least three Canadian provinces. as of this writing in summer 2024, is that three Canadian provinces have formally proposed or officially enacted measures to limit the autonomy of students in public schools, by requiring parental notification or consent to change name or use or pronouns in school.
Alberta has announced incoming legislation that will ban gender-affirming care for youth and require parental consent to alter the name or pronouns of anyone under the age of 15.
Saskatchewan adopted legislation in October 2023 requiring parental consent for name or pronoun changes for children under 16. The legislation is currently being contested in court by UR Pride with support from Egale Canada, among others.
New Brunswick implemented policy in June 2023 that required parents be notified if students under the age of 16 wished to use a different name or pronoun. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association brought a constitutional challenge against this in Sept. 2023.
Interestingly, both Alberta and New Brunswick have requested intervenor status in the court case ongoing in Saskatchewan. Trans people and their families will be watching these court cases pretty intensely over the next months (or, let’s face it, probably at least another year).
It’s important to note that all of these choices, whether legislative or policy-based, are contrary to the guidance of major medical associations in Canada and around the world, all of which endorse gender-affirming care. For example, the Canadian Public Health Association, Children’s Healthcare Canada, the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, the Canadian Pediatric Society, and the Canadian Psychological Association have all issued statements affirming the rights of children and youth to receive gender-affirming care in consultation with their appropriate medical professional. Study after study has shown that access to gender-affirming care is correlated with better mental health, and that inability to access care is correlated with depression, suicidal ideation, and self-harm, and longitudinal studies on the experiences of trans adolescents have been available internationally since at least 1997. (And as an aside, if you haven’t heard, the rate of regret for accessing transition-related surgery, which to be clear, is only rarely available to people under the age of 18 in Canada, is 1%, which is a rate of regret unmatched by any other kind of surgery in the world.) Do not let anyone tell you this care is new, untested, dangerous, or that anyone who knows what they’re talking about has valid concerns.
Legal scholars and lawyers have also spoken out against the upcoming legislation in Alberta, noting that the proposed restrictions in Alberta around gender-affirming care and change of name and pronouns will be an infringement on the Charter rights of youth to freedom of expression, life, liberty, and security of the person, the right against cruel and unusual treatment, and equality of rights. Florence Ashley has also written about how the framework of “parental rights” is misleading, because these policies would restrict the rights of parents to support their child in accessing the kind of care that is, again, universally agreed by professionals to be not just appropriate, but the best practice.
In terms of monitoring the legal situation for trans folks across Canada, Celeste Trianon is doing incredible work, and I strongly recommend you visit her website and follow her instagram! For her full review of the situation, as of April 2024, visit this post. A less recent update can be viewed on her website here, and the map will soon be moving to its own website.
Further Learning:
Celeste Trianon, Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Map: April 2024.https://www.instagram.com/p/C565QcgL1ww/?img_index=1
Zlya Jones. “Young and trans in Canada: Meet the young people and their families impacted by the surge in anti-trans policies across Canada.” Xtra. Published June 20, 2024.
Sheena Goodyear. “How gender-affirming health care for kids works in Canada.” CBC News. Last updated November 22, 2023.
Sources/Endnotes:
Ashley, Florence. “The Alberta government is trying to legislate how you raise your kids.” Xtra. February 7, 2024.
The Canadian Press. “Cross-country rallies against ‘gender ideology’ in schools meet with counter-protests.” CTV News. Last updated September 20, 2023.
The Canadian Press. “New Brunswick school district takes province to court over gender identity policy.” CTV News Atlantic. Last updated April 5, 2024.
Canadian Psychological Association. “Policy & Position Statements.” October 2010.
Canadian Public Health Association. “Statement on Transgender and Gender-diverse Rights and Health.” Published May 7, 2024.
Children’s Healthcare Canada. “Statement: Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada Support Gender Affirming Care.” Published September 6, 2023.
Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy T. and Stephanie H. M. van Goozen. “Sex Reassignment of Adolescent Transsexuals: A Follow-up Study.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Volume 36, Issue 2, pp. 263-271. February, 1997. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199702000-00017
Coleman, E. et al. “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8.” International Journal of Transgender Health, 23:sup1, S1-S259, DOI: 10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644
Faculty Members at the University of Alberta and University of Calgary Faculties of Law. “An Open Letter to Premier Danielle Smith Re: “Preserving choice for children and youth” Announcement.” Published February 15, 2024.
Fox, Liam. “Ottawa protest over ‘gender ideology’ met with hundreds of counter-protestors.” Global News. Last updated June 10, 2023.
French, Janet. “Alberta premier says legislation on gender policies for children, youth coming this fall.” CBC News. February 01, 2024.
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “Parent and gender dysphoria groups granted intervenor status in New Brunswick school policy case.” May 9, 2024.
* This is a right-wing source, read at your own risk.
Malone, Kelly Geraldine. “Draft of Saskatchewan’s pronoun policy gave teachers discretion for at-risk students.” CBC News. April 04, 2024.
Vandermorris, Ashley and the Adolescent Health Committee. “Position statement: An affirming approach to caring for transgender and gender-diverse youth.” Canadian Paediatric Society. Posted June 20, 2023.
Raymond, Ted. “Supporters greatly outnumber protestors at drag storytime event at Ottawa’s NAC.” CTV News. Last updated February 8, 2023.
Samson, Sam and Laura Sciarpelletti. “Alberta seeks intervener status in Sask. court case over controversial pronoun policy.” CBC News. April 09, 2024.
Thornton, Sarah M., Armin Edalatpour, Katherine M. Gast. “A systematic review of patient regret after surgery—A common phenomenon in many specialties but rare within gender-affirmation surgery.” American Journal of Surgery. Published April 23, 2024. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.04.021
Trianon, Celeste. “Anti-Trans Risk Map.” Last updated November, 2023. https://celeste.lgbt/en/anti-trans-risk-map
