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Queer Ontario Sees Bill C-279 As Step in Right Direction, But Still Lacking

March 14th, 2013 Comments off
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Toronto, ON March 14, 2013 – Queer Ontario unequivocally sees federal Bill C-279* as a step in the right direction; however,we harbour serious concerns with the dropping of ‘gender expression’ from the original bill.
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Individuals need to have rights and protections not only with respect to how they identify their gender (including individuals who do not identify in terms of gender) but also how they express their gender. Indeed, we recognize that attacks on individuals based on their ‘sexual orientation or ‘gender identity’ are the result not of their sexuality or gender identity, per se, but rather, of the particular ways they express their sexuality, gender, or affections – that is: in a way that contradicts the attacker’s expectations of how that individual is supposed to look, speak, act,dress, or show affection, based on their perception of their target’s sex or gender.
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We see this Bill has having the potential to extend its rights and protections to all individuals based on their gender identity and gender expression, not only those who identify as transsexual or transgender. This includes individuals who are intersex, agender, bigender, genderqueer,two-spirited, androgynous, genderfluid, and not gender-identified. This also includes individuals who are cisgender but gender non-conforming (given the tolerances of the people in their close vicinities).
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It is for these reasons that we believe the federal Conservative Government has made a serious error in calling for the removal of ‘gender expression’ from Bill C-279, inexcusably denying the bill’s rights and protections to Canadians in need.
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Although Queer Ontario sees Bill C-279, in its amended form, as a necessary first step, we would like to send the message that the government’s protective work is far from over. We stand by the position that both ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ must be included inhuman rights legislation (as is the case in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Sweden), and thus, we are committed to continue the pursuit of their inclusion in a future amendment.
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* The bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ as protected grounds against discrimination and hate crimes.
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Queer Ontario is a provincial network of gender and sexually diverse individuals – andtheir allies – who are committed to questioning, challenging, and reforming the laws,institutional practices, and social norms that regulate queer people.
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Contact: Nick Mulé
————- Chairperson
————- info@queerontario.org
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Downloadable Version: QO-BillC279-Statement
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Updates on the Amendment of the Federal ‘Gender Identity’ Bill

March 7th, 2013 Comments off

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Today, the House of Commons heard the second hour of debate on the proposed amendments to Bill C-279, the bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ as protected grounds. This second-hour of debate was followed by a vote on the proposed amendments.
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Most significantly, the House of Commons voted in favour of:
(1) moving forward with the motion to remove ‘gender expression’ from the bill, to leave only ‘gender identity’; and
(2) moving forward with the motion to add the proposed definition of ‘gender identity’ to the bill, which is:

Gender identity means, in respect of an individual, the individual’s deeply felt internal individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex that the individual was assigned at birth.

The final vote on the amendments and the final bill will take place March 20th.
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Moving Forward…

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If you haven’t already done so, please write to your MP to request that they support the bill.
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A list of current MPs, with a link to their contact information, can be found here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx
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If you are unsure of who your MP is, you can find your riding here http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/FindED.aspx and search for it in the MP list above.
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Feel free to share this note with your contacts
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Today, The Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20th, 2012 Comments off

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Today marks the 13th anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day that has been set apart to remember the lives of the family, friends, lovers, and strangers we have lost throughout the year as a result of anti-trans* violence. As individuals personally invested in the recognition, protection, accommodation, embrace, and appreciation of transsexual,* transgender,* genderqueer,* two-spirited, and other/non-gendered individuals, it pains us to have to observe this day every year. Therefore, as part of your observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, we encourage you to write to your Member of Parliament requesting that they support Bill C-279, the federal ‘gender identity’ bill.
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As you may or may not know, Bill C-279 is the federal bill that seeks to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ as protected grounds both in the discrimination provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act, and in the hate crimes provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. The bill will provide the frameworks needed to ensure that violence against trans people is accurately recorded and redressed by violence prevention programs nation-wide (including law enforcement). It will also establish the legal foundation needed to get people thinking about the  violence being done to trans people in Canada and around the world, both personally and systemically.
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You can find the name and contact information of your Member of Parliament here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E.
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If you don’t know who your Member of Parliament is, you can find your riding here http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/FindED.aspx?L=e and then find your riding in the contact link above.
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Your assistance is deeply appreciated.
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In celebratory, pensive, and sorrowful solidarity,
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The Queer Ontario Steering Committee
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