Several LGBT Albertans are speaking out in favour of Premier Danielle Smith’s new gender and parental rights policies, praising her compassionate approach.
Smith announced on Wednesday a ban on gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a ban on puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for children under 16, and a requirement for parental notification and consent before a student under 16 can change his or her name or pronoun at school. Smith also implemented a requirement that teachers inform parents before a lesson on sexuality or gender takes place, as well as a ban on biological males participating in women’s sports.
In the same announcement, Smith said Alberta would expand treatment options for transgender adults, including in-province surgical care and aftercare, a new counseling pilot project, and a buildout in co-ed sports.
True North spoke to several LGBT Albertans about Smith’s new policies.
“A good middle ground”
“I’m supportive,” said Tiffany Gillis, a trans woman from Calgary. “I think it’s a good middle ground of doing something that protects kids from making decisions they can’t go back on, and also still respecting the rights of trans adults.”
Gillis, who is a parent, also supports the parental notification policy.
“I have a responsibility as a parent to be there for (my kids) and support them, and I can’t really fulfill that responsibility if I don’t also have the right to know what’s going on with them at school,” she said.
“We do need protections”
“I’m very glad that the government is going through with it,” said Lois Cardinal, who believes Smith’s policy is “a step forward to building bridges and actually dealing with issues within the community.”
Cardinal is an Indigenous male-to-female transsexual who now regrets getting bottom surgery as it sterilized her. She previously made headlines for seeking doctor-assisted suicide as a remedy for her pain, a request which was denied.
Cardinal now wants to make sure the system won’t fail people the way it failed her, and believes Smith’s plan will play a role in that. “We do need protections.”
Cardinal is very pleased with Smith’s plan to bring in better healthcare for trans adults, something she feels will benefit her personally. “(Smith) wants to bring in a specialist in aftercare and transition, and that’s exactly what I need – aftercare,” she said.
“A very strong personal investment in these issues”
Smith’s policies are also being applauded by gay and lesbian Albertans, who worry that some gender non-conforming gay teens are being convinced to transition – a concern shared by some medical professionals.
“I was a very, very feminine child, I remember running around telling people, ‘I’m supposed to be a girl’” said Alberta gay advocate James Decker. “But then I grew up, I grew out of it, and it was fine.”
Decker’s concerns were echoed by Calgary-based lesbian writer Eva Kurilova.
“I’m a very gender non-conforming person, and I was that way as a child… I was a tomboy,” she said. “I really really worry and fear that if I was a child today, I would be a prime candidate for transition, for teachers and counsellors and doctors to tell me, ‘you know you can be a boy.’
“That’s kind of why I have a very strong personal investment in these issues, and why I want to help protect kids.”
Cardinal, Decker, Gillis and Kurilova were all invited to meet with Smith for consultations on the policies before they were announced.
“We really felt like she was listening, she was taking notes, she was asking questions, she clearly knew what was going on, and she was really curious to get our input, she had a very open-mind,” said Kurilova.
“I don’t know if she hit the balance”
Blaine Badiuk, a trans woman and United Conservative Party member, told True North she had mixed feelings about the announcement.
“I think Smith tried to get a balance. I don’t know if she hit the balance, but I do believe she genuinely tried.”
While Badiuk supports banning irreversible gender reassignment surgeries for minors, she has questions about restricting puberty blockers and hormones for trans-identifying males under 16, given that puberty will make these individuals physically masculine.
“We know that a teenage trans girl going through a full male puberty is extremely challenging, and later on, it creates situations where you need to have even more surgeries and more medical interventions to pass and integrate into society.”
Gillis said these concerns must also be weighed against regret some trans people experience when they do take these treatments.
“If you could absolutely guarantee that this particular 13-year-old who’s identifying as trans is now going to grow up to actually be trans, it would be beneficial for them to start treatment earlier,” she said. “But I think that adolescents don’t always know who they’re going to be when they grow up.”
“Ideology-ridden language”
For others, Smith’s policy does not go far enough. Chanel Pfahl, a former Ontario teacher who once described herself as a “centrist lesbian,” said that while she appreciates Smith’s move, she isn’t fond of her seeking to find a “middle ground” with what she sees as a gender ideology “cult.”
“‘Gender identity’ is not a real thing. It is a made-up term for something that does not exist,” she said on X (formerly Twitter). “‘Biological sex’ cannot be ‘altered,’ it is an immutable trait.”
Pfahl went on to say “I don’t know how we are to fight this ideology when even our most based politicians refuse to discuss this issue truthfully & without ideology-ridden language.
“The most anti-LGBTQ policies”
NDP and Liberal politicians at both levels of government were quick to criticize Smith. NDP Leader Rachel Notley accused Smith of basing her policy on “misinformation” while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Smith of having introduced “the most anti-LGBTQ policies of anywhere in the country.”
Queer activists also shared outrage over the policy, claiming that it is “targeting” LGBT kids. Some even went as far as suggesting that the “long-term goal” of Smith’s policy is the “genocide” of trans people, a claim Decker finds absurd.
“No one’s rights are being taken away,” he said. “We’re just putting in steps to ensure proper care is given and that children are actually cared for.”
Smith, who previously said she has a family member who identifies as “non-binary,” expressed the need to depoliticize trans and gender issues.
“I understand how controversial and divisive discussions on topics of sexuality and gender can be, especially when those conversations involve children,” said Smith. “I would therefore ask that as we work through implementing these policies, that we, as adults in this province, do all we can to depoliticize the discussion and focus on the well-being of the children involved.”
