Transphobic 6 Term MP Rob Anders Defeated

Read some interesting news out of Alberta concerning a north of the border transphobic foe of ours in Conservative MP Rob Anders.

He has held his Calgary West federal riding since 1997 and been a lightning rod for criticism during his time on Parliament Hill.

In addition to insulting former South African president Nelson Mandela and Canadian veterans, and making a long list of gaffes, Canadian transpeople and their allies around the world remember him deploying the 'bathroom predator' meme when C-279, the Trans Rights Bill was introduced. 
The bill eventually passed the House of Commons in March 2013.

But his riding was recently redrawn, renamed Calgary Signal Hill and he faced stiff competition in this Conservative Party nomination fight for it against Ron Liepert, who was a cabinet finance minister in Alberta's Progressive Conservative provincial government.

It was a nasty intraparty battle that received national media attention in Canada.  Prime Minster Stephen Harper endorsed Anders, but it didn't help.  There were 3250 card carrying Conservative Party members eligible to vote in that nomination election yesterday, and 2400 voted.  

For the first time since 1997 Rob Anders has lost an election, and joy has broken out in the riding and elsewhere now that it has happened.  .  

While Liepert becomes the Tory nominee in Signal Hill when the next federal Canadian election is called in 2015, as for Anders, he still gets to serve as the MP until that happens. 

Anders also hasn't announced whether he will try to run for the Tory nomination in another riding in an attempt to get a seventh term in the House of Commons.  But based on the tweets I read and the joy being expressed over his defeat, he may want to reconsider that.    .
  

Flush Fear, Not Rights Trans Rally Saturday In Calgary

I wrote a post about Conservative MP Rob Anders pimping the bathroom meme north of the border in an attempt to kill C-279, the Trans Rights bill sponsored by NDP MP Randall Garrison that seeks to add gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the list of identifiable groups in the Criminal Code of Canada.

If passed, the bill would extend clear human rights protections regarding employment, housing and access to services to Canadian trans people.

The bill has multiparty support, is making its way through the Canadian House, has passed second reading and is headed to committee.  So what does the Canadian conservative movement do in this situation? 

Take a page out of their American conservafool cousins playbook and demonize it.     

Calgary West MP Rob Anders circulated a petition attacking C-279 that claims "its goal is to give transgendered men access to women’s public washroom facilities," and will expose children to harm.

It's backfiring though, with people starting a petition of their own to remove Anders from office. 

The trans community in Calgary has organized a protest tomorrow at MP Anders constituency office in SW Calgary. 

The 'Flush Fear, Not Rights' rally will kick off at 10:00 AM local time October 13 and will not only protest the pimping of the bathoom meme, but seeks to do some education on trans issues as well.

From the Facebook page organizing the rally:

We invite Mr. Anders, the members of the Calgary West Constituency Association, other Members of Parliament in the Calgary area, Members of the Legislative Assembly (the Province of Alberta likewise does not have clear trans inclusion in the Alberta Human Rights Act), members of media and allies to meet with trans people, and learn about trans issues and why human rights protections are needed.

Good luck and give 'em hell.

Yo, Canada! Wonderful Week For Canadian Transpeeps

Transpeople in the Great White North have had a wonderful week and I couldn't be happier for y'all peeps north of the 49th parallel.

First came the unexpected news that the province of Alberta, a bastion of Canadian style conservatism reinstated funding in their provincial health care plan for SRS. 

That was quickly followed up on Wednesday by the unanimous Third Reading vote in Ontario for Toby's Act.  That makes Ontario the first Canadian province to pass trans human rights coverage and the second large Canadian jurisdiction after the Northwest Territories to do so..   

There's also word that similar trans positive human rights legislation is pending in the Manitoba provincial legislature after the province's.human rights code is being expanded to cover trans people. 

I also can't forget to point out that C-279, the federal trans rights bill, passed a Second Reading vote by a 150-132 margin in a Conservative dominated House of Commons chamber on June 6 with support from some Conservative MP's..

Hoping the positive trans human rights momentum keeps going for y'all    We'll certainly be watching from south of the border what happens from this point forward.

Alberta Reinstates SRS Funds

Any time Alberta is mentioned in our conversations concerning Canadian politics, my Timmy's Ice Capp loving homegirl refers to Wild Rose Country as 'that wretched province' for its rampant Canadian style conservatism.  

I end up feeling obligated to defend Alberta and its dedicated activists who live there like Mercedes Allen.  I know all too well what it is like to have your nation's liberal progressive activists comfortably ensconced in liberal areas taking frequent potshots at your home turf due to the conservafool politicians in charge of it pimping jacked up social policies.

Never mind the fact you and others are busting your behinds to get progressive political momentum restarted in your conservative leaning home area.

Well, there was a big win for the Canadian trans community, and it happened in wait for it, Alberta.

On April 7, 2009 Alberta's conservative provincial government delisted SRS from its provincial health plan in order to save money, but discovered that the 700,000 CAD it costs for the 16 surgeries a year was just a tiny sliver of the 12.9 billion CAD provincial healthcare budget.  It not only didn't produce the savings they thought it would, all it did was piss trans Albertans off enough to cause a tipping point moment that got them to organize, fight and file lawsuits against the province over the issue.

Well, it was announced that Alberta would be reinstating SRS funding in its health care plan for SRS effective June 15.  

Of course our trans cousins in Alberta are ecstatic about the welcome news. 

We are pleased that the current administration sees value in caring for all Albertans needs, enabling them to live happy, fulfilled lives.  The return of this coverage, whose removal only saved Albertans $0.18 each annually, will give hope to those for whom GRS was previously out of reach.  While there are many other issues facing Trans-identified Albertans, this is a huge step in the direction of respect and dignity for the Trans Community by the Alberta Government. Thank you for taking this important first step.

Those Alberta lawsuits probably would have been successful because Ontario tried a similar delisting tactic in their OHIP provincial healthcare plan.  After a ten year battle, in March 2008 they had to restore SRS funding in OHIP after losing a human rights lawsuit similar to the ones being filed in Alberta.

Once again, another win for the Canadian trans community and in conservative dominated territory on top of that which makes it even sweeter.  Way to go, Alberta trans community!

Alberta Transgender Rights Tipping Point?

The abolitionist Frederick Douglass once stated in 1892, "Find out what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them."

It looks as though the Conservative dominated provincial government is learning that they've gone past the level of injustice that Alberta's transgender community will tolerate.

Sometimes the 'I've had it' tipping point can be something small. Other times it's something so blatantly egregious you just can't stomach it anymore. You decide to fight and it leads to not only an end to the problem that led you to mobilize to fight the injustice in the first place, but empowers people through your example to fight for greater civil rights protections.

While some Albertans decry their rep within Canada as 'Little Texas' (and I feel their pain being a progressive from Texas) there are times when the idiots in my birth state and the province of Alberta go out of their way to justify and live up to every stereotype assigned to them.

The recent delisting of SRS funding from Alberta's provincial health plans has galvanized the Albertan and Canadian transgender community and their allies into coordinated action to reverse this odious ruling.

Could it be that we south of the border peeps are witnessing the dawn of a 'mad as hell' moment in Wild Rose Country that will lead to the Canadian transgender community organizing on a national level and getting more visibly active to codify, protect and expand their civil rights coverage?

That's up to our Canadian cousins to analyze the conditions in their homeland and decide if such an option is feasible and warranted, but I support whatever decision they make once this current battle is concluded.