EDITORIAL: The right to be yourself
Bella Coco, News Editor |
In January 2024, Danielle Smith announced new legislation surrounding 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, gender affirming healthcare and trans youth in the education sector. The legislation is set to be implemented this fall. There is no confirmed date at this time.
The announcement sparked a wildfire of debate across the province, but it also sparked an alarming amount of misinformation on transgender healthcare and ideologies.
With the legislation just around the corner, it’s time to debunk the myths and false information surrounding trans youth, as well as educate those who are unaware of other surrounding factors.
Proposed legislation recap
With nine months since Smith’s new proposed legislation, let’s revisit what the province of Alberta has proposed and its comparison to other provinces across Canada.
As highlighted by CBC, the United Conservative Party (UCP) plans to implement:
- Children 15 or under are not permitted to use puberty or hormone blockers in gender-affirming healthcare.
- Top surgeries and bottom surgeries are banned for those 17 or under
- Children 16-17 who desire hormone therapies for gender affirmation must undergo an evaluation involving psychological, parental and physical approval. The approval will decide if the youth is “mature enough” to go through with hormone therapies.
- When teachers plan to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their lessons, parents will have to “opt in” to allow their child to be present during the lesson. Before this proposal, parents had the opportunity to “opt out.”
And, let’s not forget, when a child 15 or under changes their pronouns or their name at school, parental consent is required. When a youth 16 or 17 changes their pronouns or name, no consent is required, but the school is required to notify parents of the changes.
Ironic that Smith has stated that she is keeping trans children’s best interest in mind, when her proposed policies and legislations only seem to benefit parents and the violation of queer and trans identities.
Parental Rights
Smith has said that “parental rights” have been an important part of her government, but let’s unpack what “parental rights” are, and its harm within the new proposed legislation.
Parental rights are a conservative step further than parents current rights provided to them by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While parents hold a right to liberty to raise their children according to their traditions and values (particularly with respect to religion), they do not have a right to step over their children’s own rights in a way that may invalidate or harm their expression or identity.
According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 2(b) – Freedom of Expression, “Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.”
This freedom gives youth the right to express themselves freely through their sexual orientation or gender identity at their school. By no means in the Charter does it say that parents are entitled to the knowledge of their children transitioning or changing their pronouns and/or name. By no means in the Charter does it say that parents must provide consent for their child to take the steps forward for gender affirmation.
The legislation that a youth has to rely on parental consent to change their pronouns and name at school violates students’ rights to be free from cruel and unusual treatment and their right to equality.
So, what does my opinion have to do with this?
As a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and an individual with family members who do not conform to the heteronormative gender binary, I feel strongly that Smith’s new legislation is fear mongering and frankly, disturbing.
The proposed legislation has promoted trans hate and sets Alberta backwards, and goes even further than policies proposed by New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
To put students and trans/queer youth in a potential place of harm or invalidation will only bring generations worth of trauma to the queer community in Alberta.
By no means do doctors perform bottom surgeries on youth (and top surgeries are a rarity at that), but it is a child’s right to express themselves through pronoun and name changes. It is a child’s right to trust certain individuals with their identity if they are in a potential position of harm in their home.
For those interested in more information on the legislation, check out The debate surrounding Alberta’s proposed transgender youth policies on The Reflector website.