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home / 世界杯决赛2022

'the most transphobic bill ever proposed in quebec,' activist says

having separate "sex" and "gender" indications on id will lead to "a kind of daily coming out for trans people," says québec solidaire mna manon massé. "it's not acceptable."

by t'cha dunlevy, montreal gazette

oct 25 2021
read time 3 minute read
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bill 2 is 'the most transphobic bill ever proposed in quebec,' activist says
quebec justice minister simon jolin-barrette proposed thursday bill 2, which includes a stipulation people can only request a sex change on their birth certificate after undergoing gender-affirming surgery on their sex organs. the person's gender would then have to be re-confirmed by a doctor who did not perform the surgery. jacques boissinot / the canadian press
by: t’cha dunlevy, montreal gazette
a proposed quebec bill to amend the civil code and change family law sets transgender rights back a decade, according to lgbtq+ and trans activists.
“this is truly the most directly transphobic bill ever proposed in quebec, and also in canada,” said celeste trianon, trans rights spokesperson at the centre for gender advocacy.
proposed thursday by justice minister simon jolin-barrette, bill 2 has several troubling elements, according to trianon, including a stipulation people can only request a sex change on their birth certificate after undergoing gender-affirming surgery on their sex organs. the person’s gender would then have to be re-confirmed by a doctor who did not perform the surgery.
“this is the most egregious change,” said trianon, noting such surgeries can render people infertile. “basically, the quebec government is attempting to reintroduce a sterilizing surgical requirement. this is something the trans community had been fighting for removal for so many years, until it was removed in 2015. the fact that simon jolin-barrette reintroduced it two days ago is really a direct attack on the trans community.”

quebec law was amended in 2015 to allow adult canadian citizens to change the gender designation on provincial ids, including health-care cards and drivers’ licenses, by filling out a sworn statement the gender designation corresponds with their identity, along with an attestation from someone who has known them for a year.

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for people who don’t meet the surgical requirement to have their designated sex changed on their id, bill 2 allows for the addition of a separate “gender” category on documentation. but that doesn’t solve the problem, according to trianon, as an id with the gender category added would be a clear sign someone is trans, opening them up to possible discrimination and harassment.
“when those documents are presented, they would reveal the fact a person is trans,” trianon said. “if an id card says the sex is female, it reads as woman; but if the gender identity is female, it reads as trans woman. you can see how trans people could be separated and segregated by this.”
the amendments in bill 2 are part of the ministry of justice’s response to a decision by quebec superior court judge gregory moore, in january, who ordered the government to bring changes to bill 71 in order to allow trans and non-binary people to designate their own gender identity on their birth certificate so they are identified correctly. the case had been brought against the government by the centre for gender advocacy.
“it was a big victory for the trans community in january,” trianon said. “now, the quebec government has twisted a victory into something really devastating for the trans community.”
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manon massé, co-spokesperson and mna for québec solidaire, said her party needs time to look over the 300 articles in bill 2, but her initial assessment is not positive.
“there are elements concerning the rights of lgbtq+ people, which in our comprehension of the law will be fragilized,” massé said. “we’re going backwards in terms of the rights of trans, intersex and non-binary people. it concerns us.”
massé referred to the “social debate” that took place when the law was changed in 2015 to better respect the rights of trans people, noting the caq was present in the discussion, but the government is now forcing trans people back to having to prove a physical correlation to their gender identity.
“i thought we were past that in quebec,” massé said.
having separate “sex” and “gender” indications on id will lead to “a kind of daily coming out for trans people,” she added. “it’s not acceptable.”
massé said she hopes the caq government is listening to the outcry against bill 2, adding “lgbtq+ people can count on me to take up this fight.”
tdunlevy@postmedia.com
twitter.com/tchadunlevy

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