Starting on Aug. 31, Canadians will have a new way to identify their sex on passports and other government documents: “X” will join the options of male and female.
The decision to allow the third category, indicating an “unspecified” sex, is intended to protect the rights of Canadian citizens to identify by the gender of their choice, the country’s immigration department said in announcing the change.
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A new law passed in June amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include nondiscrimination protections for gender identity and gender expression.
As
you may or may not know, transgender people in Canada are still do not
benefit from basic human rights. We are not legally protected from
discrimination in housing, employment, education, or health care, nor is
trans-related violence recognized as a hate crime.
Advocates
have been trying to get Bill C-279 passed in parliament for almost 3
years now, which would amend the Canada Human Rights Act to include
gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination. But despite
support, we are still sitting at a stand-still.
If you live in
Canada, please visit trans.egale.ca to learn more, contact your senator
and urge them to take action about this important human rights issue.
Visitors to Nova Scotia singer-songwriter Molly Thomason’s website may have noticed a surprise announcement on Monday, but is isn’t a new album or tour dates.
Brae Carnes, a transgender woman in Canada is posting photos of herself in men’s toilets to protest a proposed law that would make it illegal for trans women to use women’s bathrooms.
Carnes writes:
“[Conservative Canadian Senator] Donald Plett put me here! Revoke the amendment to bill C-279 which will make it illegal for trans women like me to use the women’s washroom.”
In a post on Facebook she says:
“As a trans woman I’m not even safe from discrimination at the pub. What’s going to happen if I’m forced into a men’s change-room?”
I had an appointment with this doctor last Saturday, and their basic mission statement is “It’s too hard for trans people to get hormones, so I want to make it easier.” They ask as few invasive questions as possible, with the exception of finding something to write down to justify a prescription, which is entirely covered by OHIP - “What does being trans mean to you personally, and what difficulties do you encounter that you want to fix with the hormones?” After that, they ask you to take a blood test (also covered by OHIP), and read over some information before the next appointment, where they can review the results and prescribe!
The only catch is that they’re only around on weekends, as during the week they spend their time offering medical services in northern Ontario, near Algonquin park. Aside from that, their Toronto location is easily accessible on the TTC, right near Christie Station. The only downside is that Christie Station has no elevator, and the office itself is riddled with stairs - I would still check it out though, if it would be possible to travel from Bathurst Station, which does have an elevator, and work something out beforehand in regards to avoiding the stairs in the building.
