C-279 Passes Favorably Out Of Committee

The trans rights news is also wonderful coming out of the Great White North as C-279 passed another critical step in becoming Canadian federal law.

After hearings on June 3 and June 10, it passed favorably out of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.

It moves back to the Canadian Senate floor for another two hours of debate and a final Third Reading vote that its Senate sponsor, Sen. Grant Mitchell is hopeful the bill will pass.. 

If it passes Third Reading,C-279 goes to the Governor General for Royal Assent and becomes Canadian law. 

I am in admiration of you trans folks who live in Canada.   You are living in a nation that is about to pass a law that codifies your human rights as a trans person. That IS something for Canada to be proud of and it's something I wish my nation would replicate on our side of the border

I will keep hoping and praying that C-279 becomes a reality and you have something to really celebrate when Canada Day happens July 1..

C-279 Passes Senate Second Reading!

Transpeople around the world are watching along with our Canadian trans cousins as C-279, the Trans Rights Bill passed another step in its nerve wracking journey through the Canadian Senate to become law in the Great White North.  

After more spirited debate on May 23 in which the Conservative opponents of the bill did their best to flush it out of existence with 'bathroom bill' and trans predator rhetoric, C-279 passed Second Reading in the Canadian Senate on May 29 and was referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights the same day.

The committee is scheduled to meet today at 4:00 PM EDT and on the committee's agenda is a hearing on C-279.   The bill if it becomes Canadian law would add gender identity to the list of protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act and under the hate crimes section of the Criminal Code.

The persons who are scheduled to testify in front of the Standing Committee On Human Rights this afternoon are:

• Greta Bauer, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (University of Western Ontario)
• Ryan Dyck, Director of Research and Policy (EGALE Canada)
• Ian Fine, Secretary General (Canadian Human Rights Commission)
• Randall Garrison, M.P., Sponsor of the Bill in the House of Commons (House of Commons)
• David Langtry, Acting Chief Commissioner (Canadian Human Rights Commission)

If the meeting happens and you wish to watch and listen to what is transpiring in this hearing, you can click on this link 

While this bill is a step closer to becoming Canadian law, it still has to get out of this committee, to the Senate floor for two more hours of debate and a final vote.   If C-279 passes Third Reading, it would then go to Governor General David Johnston for Royal Assent, which would make it Canadian law.

So keep crossing your fingers, rubbing your good luck charms and saying your prayers for our Canadian trans cousins and hoping that by the end of this month, they will have a federal law protecting their human rights in their home and native land.
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C-279 At Second Reading Phase In Canadian Senate

Our Canadian trans cousins (and so are we south of the border) are still anxiously watching Bill C-279, the Trans Rights Bill move through their national legislative body.

It has now moved to the Canadian Senate after being passed March 20 by the House of Commons on a 149-137 vote with the critical support of 16 Conservative Party MP's .

Interestingly enough one of the people who didn't vote on C-279 in the House of Commons was new Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, while Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper voted NO. 

The 105 member Canadian Senate is appointed, and has a current makeup comprised of 63 Conservatives, 36 Liberals, three independents and one Progressive Conservative.

The private members bill sponsored by the NDP's LGBTQ critic Randall Garrison had First Reading in the Senate on March 21 and its first hour of Second Reading debate on April 16. 

Senator Grant Mitchell of Alberta, the senate sponsor of C-279 gave a lengthy and comprehensive speech in favor of it, which would add gender identity to the list of protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act and under the hate crimes section of the Canadian Criminal Code. 

It underwent its second hour of debate May 9 with Sen. Hugh Segal of Ontario doing the honors

Honourable senators, the amendments to the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code proposed in this bill are timely and necessary. They are about extending the protection in these laws to a minority of Canadians who face particular challenges. That is what human rights is all about. That is what civilization at its best is all about. I support this legislation before us without reservation.

I will cite the testimony of Shelly Glover, Member of Parliament for St. Boniface, an MP for whom I have great respect and a former Winnipeg police officer, in her elegant testimony before a committee in the other place on this be bill. She said:

To give hope and opportunity to transgendered people through a bill like this, to give them hope in knowing they will have clarity every single time they report, every single time they want to go before a commission or a tribunal, that gender identity means they can be a transgendered individual and not have to rely on sex, which to most people means plumbing, or disability, which is not what many of them feel, I think is imperative. I think it's imperative that this move forward. I think it's imperative that we, as Canadians and parliamentarians, embrace the notion that we are inviting other Canadians to feel the sense of belonging that this will bill will give them.

When people say it's symbolic only, I disagree wholeheartedly. I want transgendered individuals to feel they can go to a police service, that they can go to a court, knowing full well that gender identity is in the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act. I agree with the Canadian Bar Association when they say it will also provide clarity and public acknowledgment. I agree with Mr. Fine, who asks that there be a leaning towards more explicit language, which is what this bill will do. And I agree with all of the two-spirited people I spoke with at Safe Night off Winnipeg Streets recently who said this is an important bill.

Many who are sincerely opposed to this bill have raised the spectre of the protections included in it somehow giving licence to a transgendered individual to use public or school lavatories as predatory sites without any sanction. This is an undue and baseless fear.
Let me quote Randall Garrison, MP, the distinguished and courageous sponsor of this legislation, from his speech on February 27 of this year:

There were some concerns about "gender expression" being less well defined in law and that this would somehow open the gates to abusive practices on the basis of the gender identity bill. I will be very frank and talk about the main one of those, which was the concern that somehow people could use this bill to gain illegitimate access to public bathrooms and change rooms in order to commit what would always be criminal acts of assault.

I contacted the jurisdictions in the United States that have had these provisions in place for a very long time. Four of those did reply, those being California, Iowa, Colorado and the state of Washington. All of them reported the same thing: there have been no instances in any of those states of attempts to use the protections for transgendered people for illegal or illegitimate purposes — no incidents, zero, none.

Honourable senators, this bill has multi-partisan support in the other place and I respectfully submit that it warrants bipartisan support in this chamber, because whatever partisan divides we face, whatever pettiness sometimes invades our rhetoric on all sides, however ideologies of the left or right proscribe our creativity and constructive ability to cooperate, I appeal in humility and sincerity to our better natures and our more noble shared aspirations for coming together around this legislation.

I subscribe to the view that a society is not in the end judged by how the wealthiest and most powerful make out, how those with the loudest voices and most efficient lobbies survive and prosper. We are judged most accurately by how those who are most vulnerable make their way and experience genuine equality of opportunity.

Transgendered Canadians and those who are seeking to redress their personal struggle are indeed a minority among us, but that minority status should not diminish their rights to protection from discrimination; it should ensure protection of those rights as fully as we can.
Honourable senators in this chamber will remember when, decades ago, we tolerated in Canada discrimination based on gender, based on age, based on religion, based on colour and race, and based on sexual orientation. All of these have been addressed, at least in terms of our formal laws and Constitution if not yet completely in practice. However, over time function follows form and the values of the Magna Carta of 1215; Mr. Diefenbaker's Bill of Rights of 1960; the Charter of Rights and Freedoms advanced by Mr. Trudeau in 1982 with the help of Premiers Davis and Hatfield and made stronger by activists like our Senator Nancy Ruth and millions of other women; and changes in human rights codes to protect different sexual orientations have all headed in the same direction, and Bill C-279 continues that step forward.

As a Conservative, the fact that this will set us apart from dictatorships like Iran, Saudi Arabia and many others makes me very comfortable and happy. If we work together and proceed to advance this bill, we will all feel even prouder to be Canadians living in the best country in the world where no legitimate rights are set aside or willfully ignored.

Bill C-279 still has a few more steps to navigate on its legislative journey through the Canadian Senate. It will reconvene on May 21 and if Conservative Senate majority leader Marjory LeBreton of Ontario allows the bill to go to a vote and it passes, then it would head to a committee for review and possible changes.  

If changes are made to C-279 at the committee stage, the bill would need to return to Parliament for another approval vote.   If changes aren't made, then the bill would proceed to Third Reading stage, another two hours of debate and then if the majority leader allows it a final vote.

If C-279 passes Third Reading, it would then go to Governor General David Johnston for Royal Assent, which would make it Canadian law.   Senator Mitchell would like that to happen before the end of June and told Xtra that he has spoken to 30 Senators, with 15 assuring him they will support the bill. The majority of the remaining 15 senators he has spoken to he indicates are leaning toward supporting the bill.

We'll see what happens to C-279 in the Senate and if Sen. Mitchell is correct when it reconvenes.

Hey Renee! 2013 Women's World Ice Hockey Championship Back On US Soil!

Told you Renee that the IIHF Women's World ice hockey title y'all won last year in Burlington, VT was only on loan.

Y'all spoiled our chance to fourpeat last year after winning three straight IIHF titles but it took y'all overtime to do it.   We only needed regulation time to bring it back to our side of the border.

Team USA stormed into the SBP Arena in Ottawa and took it back with a 3-2 win in the title game in front of 13,776 witnesses to claim their fourth championship in five years.

It was the usual hard fought game with Team USA outshooting Canada in this one 30-16.  It came down to the reigning NCAA women's player of the year Amanda Kessel firing the championship clinching goal, a wrist shot from the right wing just 3:09 into the final period.   

Team USA will get to hold the IIHF world title until the next tournament is conducted in Sweden in 2015.   The Olympics are happening in Sochi in February 2014 and the International Ice Hockey federation doesn't conduct the world championship tournament in Olympic years.

Speaking of the Olympics, the nations that have qualified for the women's Olympic hockey tournament are the 2010 defending Olympic gold medalists Canada, Japan, 2010 bronze medalists Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, the host nation Russia, Germany and the 2010 silver medalists United States.

It was so much fun winning that title in your nation's capital and on your soil.   It may be your game, but the women's world championship trophy is back on US soil again.   The Olympic gold medal is next.

USA! USA! USA!

Canadian Trans Woman Discriminated Against At Bridal Shop

All Rohit Singh wanted to do when she stepped into Jenny's Bridal Boutique in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with her fiance was buy a dress for her upcoming wedding.

After perusing a few outfits she liked she asked to try one on.  Unfortunately Jenny Correia, the transbigoted owner of the shop refused to let her do so because of her impression that Singh was a man.

"She said, sorry we don't allow men to wear dresses here," Singh recalled. "I said I'm not a man, I'm transgender."

Correia was unrepentant according to a CBC article on the incident.

"To me it doesn't matter," Correia said. "He looked like a man. There was quite a few brides in the store. If you see a man trying on dresses, you're going to feel uncomfortable."

Um Jenny, it does matter, and you're going to find out soon enough when you get hit with that formal complaint about your nekulturny behavior Singh is filing with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

She did find a red bridal gown at the My Lynh Bridal shop in Saskatoon that did value her business and according to Singh, gave her excellent customer service on top of it.

She also now happily married and continuing her gender transition.

Now, what is the moral of this story trans people and allies?   Having airtight public accommodations language in your trans human rights laws matters.  This is why C-279 is needed and continued pressure needs to be put on the Conservative dominated Canadian Senate to pass it.

TransGriot Update: A protest and rally attended by Singh and dozens of supporters was held in front of the transphobic bridal shop May 4.

Bullying and Where Are the Parents?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

I have come to hate the term where are the parents because it ignores that parents can dedicate every waking minute to fighting for their kids and not make any progress because the system is not designed to be helpful.  I have also come to hate the term zero tolerance policy in reference to bullying because it's a lie. When my children were born, I promised to love them unconditionally, to support them and fight for them whenever necessary.  I have kept this vow but it has not been easy. The first time my oldest son was bullied, he was five years old and he was being called "brown boy." Today, the taunts have escalated and now he is being called the N word.

For the last two years, one boy on my son's bus has delighted in being a bully.  My son hasn't been his only victim but being Black, he is the only one being called a racial slur. I have talked to the school bus company and the principal and the best I have managed is to get the child booted off the bus for a week at a time.  This means my son gets a week of safety and comfort but as soon as the boy starts riding on the bus again, the process starts all over. In desperation, I called the NRP (Niagara Regional Police), hoping to push the idea that this amounted to harassment, but they wouldn't even take a report, let alone go out to the school and talk to the child in question or investigate.  They advised me to tell my son to just ignore the racial slurs and to tell him that the bully was simply maladjusted.  Apparently, what the bully is doing is not a crime.  I suggested that this situation was going to end up with my son seriously hurting this kid, the kid seriously hurting my son, or my son in a body bag, because this is what happens when bullying is ignored. The cop was quiet for a moment and simply said these things happen.  Apparently, someone has to be hurt or die for this to be taken seriously.

At present, I am trying to get in touch with the superintendent and getting the run around.  This recent incident isn't even a case of my son's word against the bully, because not only did other children confirm his story, so did the bus driver.  When I spoke to the bus company this morning, they admitted that the child in question has a history of this behaviour and promised to have the bus driver try to look out for my son.  How exactly can he look out for my son when he has to pay attention to the road? They cannot even institute a seating arrangement to force the child to sit up front, so that he is away from other children because that apparently would be too stigmatizing. My son has been hurt for two years by this bully but apparently, the bully's fee fees are more important.


So, where are the parents? Well, this parent is fighting to try and protect my child and it is the system that is failing our family.  I don't want to hear condolences after something serious happens, I want my baby boy to go to school in a safe environment and get a good education.  That is what my tax dollars pay for and what I have every right to expect as a Canadian citizen. A parent can call the schools, interact with the school board and even call the cops, but unless the system meets them halfway nothing changes.  Bullying continues to happen because despite their mediocre diversity classes and seminars on bullying, school officials don't give a damn and are not interested in substantive change.

It disgusts me that our story is not unique.  Across North America, there are families just like ours fighting.  We have had parents send their kids to school with stun guns, we have had a mother show up at the bus stop to beat up their child's bully, and we have had a father get on a school bus to cuss out their child's bullies and nothing changes. The parent gets into trouble and even in some cases arrested and charged, but what choice did they have?  There have been movies made about bullying and despite all of the lipservice being paid to ending bullying nothing has changed.  Yet, when a child dies, the refrain is always, "where are the parents?" More fool me, for teaching my son that the right answer is to trust the system to do its job and faithfully report these incidents. Every time there is a PSA on television, they advise children to speak to an adult and promise them that the bullying will stop, if they just manage to build up the courage to tell someone.  It's a lie and they are giving children false hope because it won't stop, even if they have parents dedicated to fighting for them.

So where do I go now? Yes the little ass is banned from the school bus for a week and it will give my son a small reprieve but given his history, it will simply happen again. I also have to worry about my youngest son who rides that same bus everyday.  He has heard the taunts and sees his brothers pain.  Bullying doesn't just effect one person but entire families.  I have demanded that he be removed from the bus or be forced to sit at the front and I don't think that this is asking too much.  I'm tired of being encouraged to have sympathy for the bully.  I was even asked how I would feel if the child had a disability, as though being disabled gives one license to be a bigoted asshole.  This is what they mean when they say zero tolerance - have tolerance and pity for the bully.  Our education system is broken because it is failing in its responsibility to protect marginalized or otherwise vulnerable kids. In short, the parents are here and we are fighting but nothing is changing and our kids remain vulnerable each and everyday this allowed to continue on unchecked.

Tracey, A Young Transkid With A Wonderful Family

I'm happy and have been for years to see young trans kids like Kim Petras (who is now a stunning twentysomething young woman) Jazz and Sadie (who are transteens headed in that direction), Nicole, Bobbi, Coy, and others we may not be aware of yet as a community being able to transition before puberty sets in.

One of the things that made me go hmm is why we haven't seen as yet a young African-descended trans kid or trans teen.  I thought that was odd considering one of the things I know about trans persons of color is that we tend to transition at earlier ages with Janet Mock being a prime example of that.

Well peeps, meet Tracy and her parents Garfield and Michelle.   Thanks to one of my long time readers Dominique Storni she sent me this link to an AM/BC interview with this amazing trans teen and her parents.

Tracy and other kids like her in the Great White North is why activists up there are fighting so hard to get the federal Trans Rights Bill passed and do the same in their various provinces. 

Yo, Canada! C-279 Passes House!

Yesterday was a wonderful day for my Canadian trans cousins who saw C-279, the trans rights private member's bill introduced by New Democratic Party MP Randall Garrison, approved by the House of Commons.

It passed third reading on a 149-137 vote with the crucial support of 16 Conservatives and four cabinet ministers.   One of the cabinet ministers who voted for C-279 was Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who has been busy mounting a strong defense of such TBLG rights around the world.

One of the notable NO votes was Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while the opposition parties like the NDP, the Liberals, the Greens and the Bloc Quebecois supported it. 

After passing first reading back on June 6 by a 150-132 margin, out came the 'bathroom bill' attack lines spearheaded by Calgary MP Rob Anders.   There were complaints from Conservatives that Bill C-279's language was 'vague' and grousing about the bill's potential effectiveness that seemed to bog down progress on the bill's passage.  After MP Garrison removed the 'gender expression' language and C-279 was amended it proceeded to yesterday's vote.  

Canadian trans activists weren't happy about that turn of events and are concerned that the removal of the gender expression language will make C-279 less effective.

"Today, New Democrats are proud to have contributed to ensuring equal protection under the law from discrimination and hatred based on gender identity," Garrison said in a statement after the vote.
"Transgender and transsexual citizens are among the most marginalized and are too often victims of harassment and acts of violence."

It now moves to the Canadian Senate for approval.

Justice For January Rally Tonight

I posted about January Marie Lapuz, one of the girls like us in the Vancouver area who was loved and respected in the community being murdered in her New Westminster, BC home on September 29th of last year.  
Charles Neel, the person who is alleged to have committed the crime was arrested on December 5 and charged with her murder. 

Later today the Vancouver trans community and their allies will have a rally starting at 4 PM PST in support of January.  They will gather at the New Westminster City Hall and march to the New Westminster Provincial Courthouse in a call for justice for January Lapuz and in opposition to the release of Charles Neel.   

Activists at this rally will call on the Canadian federal and British Columbia provincial governments to immediately enshrine human rights protections at the federal and the provincial level in BC for all gender variant, transgender, transsexual, two spirit, intersexual, and other individuals.  

They will also call for general reform and improvement of BC's Trans Health Program, and ending the mistreatment of Canada's transgender and gender variant citizens.

Good luck and hope you have a sizable turnout for this event.

C-279 Update-Getting Filibustered By The Conservatives

Been keeping track of C-279, the federal Trans Rights Bill that seeks to protect the human rights of my trans Canadian brothers and sisters.  

They've already had a great year and progress in passing trans rights legislation in Ontario, Manitoba and most recently Nova Scotia and would like to keep that positive momentum going into 2013.

Bil C-279 would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to include "gender identity" and "gender expression" as grounds for discrimination but seems to have hit a little resistance while it was in committee.  

Not surprising since the Conservatives were already borrowing tactics from their south of the border Republican cousins and conservahaters by throwing 'bathroom bill' shade at it.  

The NDP's Randall Garrison, the sponsor of this private members bill ain't happy about it, and neither is the Canadian trans community and their allies..  

Mercedes Allen breaks it down for us in terms of what transpired.

Arrest Made In January Lapuz Killing

I wrote back in October about the killing of our Canadian trans sister January Marie Lapuz who was found stabbed at her New Westminster, BC home on September 30 and later died at a local hospital. 

It's now being reported the New Westminster, BC police on December 5 arrested Charles Jameson “Jamie” Neel with the killing of our trans sister 

He has since been charged with second-degree murder and was scheduled to appear at New Westminster court on December 6.

Police investigators are still trying to ascertain the motive for Lapuz's killing, and since the case in now before the court system and the investigation is still active they have not released any further information to news outlets in the area.

Here's hoping that Neel is the person who did it, the justice system handles their business and puts him away for a long time.

Will keep y'all posted on this case.

Miss Canada Universe 2012 Is A Sistah!

While I didn't get to see Jenna Talackova take the 2012 Miss Canada Universe crown, I'll have another reason to watch the Miss Universe pageant besides seeing if Miss USA finally wins the title for the first time in over a decade or booing Donald Chump Trump when it's televised from Las Vegas on December 19.

I'll have even more of a reason to watch in 2013.  The Miss Universe pageant system will be open to trans women, so it should be interesting to see if any trans woman wins their national pageant next year.

But back to discussing Canadian pageant developments.

If you ever wondered if the first runner up ever get to compete or move up to become the main titleholder, yes they do for various reasons.

Turns out Miss Canada Universe 2012 Sahar Biniaz due to hurting her foot days before she was supposed to arrive in Las Vegas December 2-4 for the rehearsals and the Miss Universe preliminary competition that will take place December 13, will not be able to represent the Great White North.
 

Because of Biniaz's injury, the Miss Canada Universe pageant's first runner up, 24 year old Adwoa Yamoah from Calgary will take her place as Canada's representative in this pageant.   The 1.75m beauty (5'9") will join the other 88 women from around the world competing for the Miss Universe 2012 title and be crowned by outgoing Miss Universe 2011 queen Leila Lopes..

I'll have to double check that, but I believe Yamoah also becomes the first African descended woman to represent Canada at Miss Universe.  She was born in Accra, Ghana and moved to Canada as a child.  

So yep, may have to put down the Stars and Stripes and root for the north of the border contestant even though Miss USA hasn't won it since 1999. 

Good luck Adwoa.

Nova Scotia Passes Trans Human Rights Law!

Add Nova Scotia to the list of Canadian provinces and legislative jurisdictions that have passed trans human rights laws

According to Mercedes Allen and NSRAP, the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project, Bill 140, the Transgendered Persons Protection Act, which adds gender identity and expression to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act unanimously passed its third reading

It not only continues the positive momentum of trans human rights legislative wins north of the 49th Parallel, it also makes Nova Scotia the fourth Canadian legislative jurisdiction after the Northwest Territories, Ontario and Manitoba to add protections to their provincial or territorial human rights laws that include gender identity and expression.  

Meanwhile the trans human rights issue is being debated in Newfoundland and Labrador and C-273, the federal Trans Rights Bill passed Second Reading on June 6 and is now in committee.

For transpeople in Nova Scotia, you received an early Christmas present this year.  I hope the rest of Canada follows suit in recognizing the human rights of trans Canadians and the need to respect and protect those human rights under their nations laws.

And congrats Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Legislature and NSRAP for getting it done.  Your southern trans cousins in the States couldn't be happier for you.

Nova Scotia's NSRAP Pushing For Trans Human Rights

With Ontario passing Toby's Act  and becoming the first Canadian province to protect the human rights of its trans citizens, Manitoba swiftly following suit and the Trans Right Bills C-276 and C-279 making their way through the Canadian Parliament at the federal level, a group of activists in Nova Scotia thinks the time is right to push for similar legislation in their province.


The Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project (NSRAP) with the support of Halifax NDP MP Megan Leslie are pushing their lawmakers to amend the province’s Human Rights Act to include the terms "gender identity" and "gender expression.”  


The NSRAP has modeled their petition on Ontario's Toby's Act, and Kevin Kindred, the chair of NSRAP said “There is political support for taking transphobia seriously and evolving human rights laws in the right way.”


MP Megan Leslie, who is a big supporter of C-279, the Randall Garrison sponsored bill that is and winding its way toward third reading, worked with the NSRAP on trans rights issues before being elected to Parliament.

"In Nova Scotia there is an incredible openness to trans rights that I don't see in other provinces," she says in an Xtra.com interview. "When we talked to the commissioners with the human rights commission, we talked about the fact that transgender people are not covered by the Human Rights Act. They fit in the margins under gender, sexuality, et cetera.  

“They were open on the fact that they would find ways to fit trans people under the prohibited grounds when they can," she recalls. “But there was a recognition that it deserved its own listing."

Yes, trans people in Nova Scotia do.  In light of what happened to Elle Noir in June 2011, and the drama over a proposed name change bill for trans people in the province that included a fingerprinting provision, it's past time that happened and trans Nova Scotians get added to the province's Human Rights Code. . 

Here's hoping that Nova Scotia becomes the third province to enact a law protecting their trans citizens and becomes the first in Atlantic Canada to do so.
 

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.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012, Eh!

North of the 49th parallel, today is Thanksgiving Day in the Great White North.    My Canadian readers are enjoying their long holiday weekend, getting their grub on and giving thanks for their many blessings they have received this year. 

Two of the blessings I receive from your side of the border is the continued love of my homegirl Renee, the brilliant editrix of Womanist Musings and her family.

I also have the blessing of you Canadian TransGriot readers.

You let me know how much you appreciate my blog and the times I do cover trans events that happen on the northern side of the 49th parallel.   Thanks to those of you who send me the tips and links so I can provide Canada specific posts for you. .

I don't doubt there are more than a few Canadian trans people who are giving thanks in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta for the trans human rights victories they won.   I also note on this Thanksgiving Day that C-279, the Trans Rights Bill is making progress through the House despite Conservative opposition. 

My hope and prayer for my trans Canadian brothers and sisters is that you have more success in your home and native land gaining your human rights, you continue to blaze new trails like Jenna Talackova did and I'm blessed to write about when it occurs.

Happy Thanksgiving, Eh!

Trans Sister Killed In Vancouver

It's Thanksgiving weekend north of the border, but our Canadian sisters in the Metro Vancouver area will have heavy hearts as they sit down to have their dinners on Monday.

According to Xtra.ca 26 year old January Marie Lapuz died after being found in her New Westminster, BC  home with stab wounds on September 29. 

Lapuz hailed from Santiago, Isabela, in the Philippines, spoke three languages (English, Tagalog, and Chinese), volunteered as a social coordinator, fundraiser and performer with Sher Vancouver, a group for LGBT South Asians but open to all ethnicities.

The RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) says the New Westminster Police Department received a call just after 10 PM PDT to assist paramedics with a stabbing victim in the 500 block of 3rd Ave. 

Lapuz was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:44 AM PDT.

The Metro Vancouver community is mourning January's loss. 

"She was like the mother of the group," Alex Sangha of Sher Vancouver said. "She had so much going against her, and she got through it with her strength. She was very spiritual, very generous, very kind. And she got through her challenges because she believed in God, and she had the support of the group, and her friends, and the people around her."

The investigation into Lapuz's death is still in the early stages.  Police are searching for an Asian male seen fleeing the scene.  He is described as being in his mid-20s, approximately five foot five, with short black hair and a muscular build. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and grey shorts.

“The investigation remains active and ongoing as we continue to look for a motive and a suspect in this case. We also need the public’s assistance as the search continues for a male who witnesses spotted running from the scene Saturday night,” says RCMP Sergeant Jennifer Pound.


"To say something such as a hate crime would be speculation at this point," Pound says.

Here's hoping the perpetrator of this crime is expeditiously captured and brought to justice.   For the people whose lives were touched in one way or another by January Marie Lapuz's presence in it in the Metro Vancouver area, it will be one of the things they think about as they go about their holiday weekend mourning her loss.

'Bathroom Meme' Being Deployed Against Bill C-279

While we've been focused on our own electoral business in the States,  Bill C-279 was reintroduced in the Canadian House of Commons.  

It's the private members bill introduced by Randall Garrison, the NDP Critic on LGBT Affairs that would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to include "gender identity" and "gender expression" as grounds for discrimination.

It's a reintroduction of the Bill Siskay sponsored C-389 private member's bill that passed the Canadian House of Commons in February 2011 but died while it was in the Canadian Senate due to the April 2011 election call.  

Liberal MP Hedy Fry of Vancouver Central also introduced her own private member's bill C-276 on September 19, 2011 which was an exact redraft of Siskay's bill that passed last year.  

Fry's C-276 bill underwent First Reading on March 27 and has the support of MP Garrison and MP Elizabeth May, the Green Party leader.

Bil C-279 has been advancing through the Conservative dominated legislature since its introduction on September 21, 2011.  It passed its First Reading on June 6 on a 150-132 vote with the help of a coalition spearheaded by the NDP that also included May, the Bloc Quebecois, the Liberals and 15 Conservative MP's.  There were also 17 Conservatives that didn't vote including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but the no votes against the trans right bill were all Conservative.

Bill C-279 has had second reading and is currently in the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

Of course the harder core elements of the Conservative Party and right wing allies are determined to kill this trans rights bill.  Predictably Conservative MP Rob Anders from Calgary West deployed an all too familiar to trans rights activists around the world tactic of conservative leaning legislators seeking to kill trans human rights legislation, the bathroom predator meme.   

Anders is circulating a petition aimed at stirring up opposition to C-279 and falsely claimed according to the CBC that the bill's goal 'is to give transgendered men access to women's washrooms.'

Anders also played the 'protect the younglings' card and said it’s the duty of the House of Commons to protect children from any exposure or harm that will come from giving men this kind of access.

Yeah, right.  The Conservatives are learning well from their south of the border right wing brothers when it comes to opposing our human rights.  

Of course Canadaian trans activists pushed back against the bathroom predator meme pimped by MP Anders.

"The suggestion that this is somehow some … conspiracy of trans people to sneak into bathrooms deliberately to harm people it’s ludicrous," trans activist Jan Buterman says. "Trans people have been using bathrooms all over Canada for decades with, as far as I know, zero evidence of any incidents whatsoever."
    
Will stay tuned to events north of the border to see if Bill C-279 passes the Canadian House.

Happy Labor (Labour) Day!

It's the first Monday in September, and besides the fact the 2012-13 edition of the Miss Continental Pageant is going on in Chicago and it's considered the last unofficial day of summer (can't tell that by the temps here in Houston), it is Labor Day weekend.  

If you're north of the 49th parallel as most of my Canadian TransGriot readers are, it's Labour Day weekend

However you spell it, find your friendly neighborhood union member, bow down and thank them profusely for this three day weekend the labor movement bought and paid for with blood, sweat and tears.

You can also thank a union member while you're at it for the following:

1. All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
2. Paid vacation
3. Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
4. Sick leave
5. Social Security
6. Minimum wage
7. Civil Rights Act/Title VII - prohibits employer discrimination
8. 8-hour work day
9. Overtime pay
10. Child labor laws
11. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
12. 40-hour work week
13. Workers’ compensation (workers’ comp)
14. Unemployment insurance
15. Pensions
16. Workplace safety standards and regulations
17. Employer health care insurance
18. Collective bargaining rights for employees
19. Wrongful termination laws
20. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
21. Whistleblower protection laws
22. Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) - prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee
23. Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
24. Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises)
25. Sexual harassment laws
26. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
27. Holiday pay
28. Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
29. Privacy rights
30. Pregnancy and parental leave
31. Military leave
32. The right to strike
33. Public education for children
34. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 - requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
35. Laws ending sweatshops in the United States

The unions and the labor movement are one of our allies working with the trans community to get the Employment and Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed.

And with less than 70 days left until Election Day, this election is critical to us being able to keep all the precious things on that list that unions helped us get and the Republicans and US Chamber of Commerce wants to eliminate.  

So stop letting the GOP, Fox Noise and the conservafool movement bamboozle you into hatin' on unions and get busy not only supporting candidates that support the ability for people to organize to join a union, but support collective bargaining rights and all the other hard won workplace rights that are under attack. 

Happy Labour (Labor) Day!  

2012 Olympics Watch-USA Advances To Gold Medal Match In Controversial Semifinal

The USA has pretty much owned the international soccer border war with Canada throughout our time playing the beautiful game on the women's side.  

But the 500th match for Team USA is guaranteed to be a memorable one for many reasons on both sides of the border.

The USA entered today's semifinal match at Old Trafford with history and momentum on their side.  They had never failed to reach an Olympic final since women's soccer was added to Games sports calendar in 1996, and the Americans hadn't lost to Canada since 2001.   They were unbeaten in this 2012 Olympic tournament and Hope Solo had posted three shutouts since the opening 4-2 comeback win over France.  
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But the lure of Thursday's gold medal match at Wembley Stadium added additional fuel to the desire for the Canadians to end their 11 year losing streak to Team USA.

Christine Sinclair put the Canadian team on her back and carried them for the initial 90 minutes.  She had a hat trick in this one after failing to score in the last six contests against Team USA with goals in the 22nd, 67th and 78th minutes, but Team USA has a refuse to lose mentality.  

Every time she scored, the USA answered it with two from Megan Rapinoe in the 54th and 70th minute and a controversial penalty kick goal from Abby Wambach in the 80th minute..

Referee Christina Pedersen had warned McLeod for time wasting earlier in the match and finally penalized her with a whistle for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the USA an indirect free-kick a couple yards inside the penalty area. Tobin Heath tapped the free kick to the right and Carli Lloyd took a right-footed shot that hit Nault’s arm. Pederson did not hesitate to point to the spot.  Wambach calmly placed the penalty kick to the left side of the net past the diving McLeod for her 143rd international goal and a 3-3 tie..

The stage was then set for Alex Morgan's sheroics, but not after some nervous moments for both teams in overtime. 

In the 123rd minute with the game looking like it was headed for the first ever penalty kick shootout Morgan with seconds left in the third and final minute of stoppage time rose over defender Chelsea Stewart to meet a cross from Heather O’Reilly and loop her header over Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod's desperate outstretched arm to seal a historic victory.

“For some reason we like to make things dramatic. I’m really happy that Alex Morgan is on my team. This team doesn’t give up" said Abby Wambach.  "This is what we’re about. This is what we’ve been working for since the day we lost to Japan in the World Cup final. We know that it’s not going to be easy. We didn’t anticipate a game like this, but we’re willing to deal with whatever is thrown at us. I’m so thankful that people kept believing in us, that we kept believing in ourselves. We stuck with it until the end.”

Nope, it wasn't but Team USA is about to get what they came to London for, a shot at redemption versus the FIFA world champions.   On Thursday the US gets a chance to avenge the 2011 Women's World Cup final against Japan while a bitterly disappointed Canadian team moves on to play France for the bronze medal.