More than a thousand Calgarians gathered at Municipal Plaza on Feb. 3, to protest and to organize against the Alberta Government’s plans to introduce sweeping legislation and regulatory changes towards transgender youth and gender identity education in schools.
On Jan. 31, Premier Danielle Smith released a video to Facebook outlining her government’s plans to limit hormone therapies for transgender youth under 18-years-of-age, placing limits on so-called top and bottom surgeries for transgender youth, requiring parental consent for pronoun and name usage in schools, requiring ministry approval of gender identity materials in schools, and limiting the ability for transgender athletes to compete in school sports.
During a media availability on Feb. 1, the Premier said she was undertaking the legislative and regulatory changes as a way to “depoliticize the issue as much as possible, and focus on the well being of the children involved.”
At issue for organizers of the rally—which was coordinated with a protest in Edmonton, which also drew over a thousand participants—and for attendees including members of Calgary City Council, Calgary MLAs, representatives from LGBTQ2s+ serving non-profits, local unions and associations, and the Alberta Teachers Association, was the perception that the changes proposed were intensely political.
“It’s extremely Draconian legislation, even in the context of other provinces who have attempted to similarly discriminate against gender diverse people. Is the queer community surprised that the United Conservative government is attacking us legislatively? Not even remotely,” said James Demers, one of the organizers for the rally.
“In fact, many community leaders including myself, were sat down by [Minister of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women] Tanya Fir last week in an attempt to discover what the community wanted from the party. We were very clear, and this was the result,” he said.
Demers said that the rally was a response to the government, but also served as a way to organize around a proposed legal challenge to the government’s legislation.
“Rather than practicing a specific action, this is about creating a demonstration of love for community. So that sense of isolation and loneliness, which is trying to be accomplished through this legislation, is combated. This is about bringing people together intergenerationally to support each other,” he said.
Amelia Newbert, managing director for Skipping Stone, said that the organization was preparing to fight the government in court and was fundraising to do so.
“If the UCP brings anything, takes any action to take our healthcare rights away, we will take them to court. If they do anything to affect our kids rights to be who they are in the education system, we will take them to court. If they take us out of sport, we will take them to court.”
As of Saturday evening, 24-hours after its launch, the fund had raised more than $16,000.
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Speaking on the history of LGBTQ2S+ rights across the nation during a fiery speech to protesters, Demers pointed to a number of successful Alberta court cases including that of a 1968 challenge to the Criminal Code of Canada launched by a Calgary Transit bus driver, a 1998 Edmonton teacher lawsuit against then discriminatory employment legislation.
“Albertans get shit done,” Demers said.
“When we take the Government of Alberta, the Government of New Brunswick, and the Government of Saskatchewan to the Supreme Court of this country, we will get it done.”
Izzy Stoodley, a transgender woman who attended Saturday’s rally, said that she was disappointed with Premier Smith.
“Here’s the thing: I’ve talked to somebody who was on the exact opposite side of me on this issue, and even they’re thinking it’s a distraction. People talk about parental rights, and it’s always interesting to me about whose rights and which parents,” Stoodley said.
“It feels like, ‘oh, I want the parental right to keep my kid away from this stuff.’ But it’s not about the parental rights to not have your kids pushed down the stairs because they’re gay, or not having the right to learn about names or pronouns or learn about LGBT people.”
She said that addressing real issues, like rent hike, job shortages, and homelessness would actually protect transgender individuals.
“Jon Stewart made a line years ago about you guys don’t want freedom, you want freedom from. ‘I want freedom from gays, I want freedom from people of different backgrounds.’ I want freedom from, but that’s not how freedom works. It’s the freedom to do stuff,” Stoodley said.
“What drew me out here is that even if we’re not perfect, they’ll use one of us, or one of our regrets, or one of us doing something wrong to vilify all of us.”
Former and current politicians take aim at Smith
Former Mayor Naheed Nenshi took direct aim at Premier Smith and her Facebook unveiling of government policy, saying that he had regretted telling a Henry Wisewood High School student in 2023 that she was not “a hater.”
“I remember saying to them, she has a non-binary family member. I remember saying to them, ‘you’re going to be safe here.’ I hate that I was wrong. I hate that what we heard for seven minutes was cruelty. What we heard for seven minutes was lies. What we heard for seven minutes was inhumane. When we heard for seven minutes was un-Albertan,” Nenshi said.
“The most chilling moments, was when she said for that rare handful of parents who will not accept or abuse their trans children, we will enforce child protection laws. Let me tell you what that means. What that means is we’ll deal with y’all later. Later, after you’ve been beaten up. Later after you’ve been kicked out of your homes. Later after you’ve been murdered. Later after you’ve died by suicide.”
Speaking directly to Smith during his speech, Nenshi said she was better than the planned legislation.
“Premier Smith, I’ve known you for 30 years. You’re better than this. You need to be better than this. I don’t care about your cynical polling, I don’t care about you saying that most Albertans are on my side, because that’s not what minority rights are about. Smith I want you to understand that votes aren’t worth a few dead kids.”
Beyond the headlines: listen to Naheed Nenshi’s full speech below
Calgary-Foothills MLA, Court Ellingson, one of three sitting members of the Alberta Legislature who identify openly as gay, said that there was no discussion of the changed with the official opposition prior to the announcement.
“So often what happens with policy and legislation is that we have the opportunity to have conversations with departments in advance of that legislation being introduced. In this instance, it was a public announcement with no conversation with the opposition, no conversation with the trans community, and no conversation with allies of the trans community,” Ellingson said.
“I think we all knew that maybe something was brewing. We didn’t know that it was going to come in now, and we didn’t know that it was going to be so far reaching.”
He said that there was a great deal of risk to Albertans if legislation is put into place that puts the government in between patients and health care professionals, and between the public and self-regulated expert associations like medical associations.
Among those risks, he said, was the decrease in trust in health care.
He said that Albertans angry with the government decision, or who felt un-consulted, had options to have their concerns entered into the legislative record.
“We’ll use all levers available to us in the legislature, but I think citizens in the general population need to know that ultimately, they are the ones that will determine what goes forward and what doesn’t go forward,” Ellingson said.
“It’s important for citizens to be engaged to participate, to message their members of the Legislative Assembly. And just to share a little bit about how things work in the Legislative Assembly, if you email the premier on this issue, and CC a member of the opposition, we can ask the premier about that email in the legislature. Send us a letter, and your letter can be on public record, so your voice cannot be denied.”
Smith says she did consult with transgender community
Premier Smith said that there was broad support for the government’s legislative changes, and that she had been consulting with members of the transgender community on the issue.
“I’ve been consulting with members of the transgender community since the last time I was in politics, and one of the constant things that I hear is how difficult it is to get connected with somebody who understands transgender medicine, the need for ongoing hormone therapy, and managing the health conditions that come from being on a lifetime of hormone therapy,” Smith said.
“I met with Lois Cardinal, who, as you may know, felt that she was rushed into bottom surgery and is having consequences of that and her great frustration is that there hasn’t been appropriate medical aftercare for that.”
Stoodley, said that one individual’s regret over transitioning shouldn’t prevent the ability for others to do so.
“Here’s the thing, even when people regret it, is it because they’re not getting accepted from their family? Is it because no one will get their pronoun right? What part do they regret? There’s some things I regret, but there’s part of me that regrets not doing it sooner,” Stoodley said.
“And, you know, sample size of one—solely scientific right—but I think a lot less people would regret it if there was a lot less bullying, harassment, threats of job losses or things like that at work. If it was safer to be trans, I think a lot less people would regret it.”
Premier Smith said that the safety of transgender youth was of primary interest, preventing any life-altering permanent changes before they become adults through hormonal treatment, and to ensure that there is sufficient medical oversight.
“When I look at children going through these very difficult decisions through puberty, it’s a confusing time. We have to make sure that we have that balance of making sure families are supported, but also making sure that the child is able to become who they’re meant to be,” she said.
“I’m also observing around the world there really is a lot of divergence in the medical community about when the right time is for these things, and the absence of providing guide posts. It really is going to be just up to the individual doctor and I just don’t think that that’s the environment that that we should be having here.”
Currently in Alberta, gender affirming top or bottom surgery is limited to individuals over the age of 18.
Paediatric doctors refute claims made by Smith
When asked by reporters to provide a list of evidence based and peer-reviewed research materials that the government was using to support those decisions, the Premier did not do so, instead referring to an unnamed organization losing a board member over transgender treatment, unnamed medical associations that had allegedly differing standards and ages for care, and referred to treatment decisions made by the governments of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
She offered to have her press secretary provide a list of individuals who would speak to her plans.
The list of countries named by Premier Smith mirrored that of an opinion article that was shared on social media in May of last year, arguing against the use of hormonal treatments for transgender youth and praising Norway’s stance on the issue.
An Associated Press fact check in June of 2023, debunked the premise of that article as Norway had not actually made any policy changes to ban gender-affirming care for youth. AP also noted that the website the story had been shared from had previously been identified as one engaged in misinformation.
The Canadian Paediatrics Society, penned an open letter to Premier Smith on Feb. 2, addressing what they say was legislation that would undermine the rights of youth, and had the potential to lead to negative health outcomes and suicide.
The letter was signed by Dr. Sam Wong President for the Section of Pediatrics Alberta Medical Association, Dr. Jeff Critch, President of the Canadian Paediatric Society, Dr. Ellie Vyver Chair, Adolescent Health Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society, and Dr. Raphael Sharon, Board Member for the Alberta Canadian Paediatric Society.
“When it comes to gender-affirming medical care, current best evidence shows that younger age and earlier pubertal stage at time of presentation has been associated with lower rates of mental health conditions. While some [transgender and gender diverse] adolescents may only ever desire social transition, others may be interested in medical options,” the letter read.
“For adolescents with marked and sustained gender diversity who express a clear goal of medical transition, hormone blockers may be prescribed to suppress or slow physical changes or gendered experiences. Hormonal suppression is reversible and sex steroid production will resume if blockers are discontinued. Initially, the clinical objective of prescribing hormone blockers is to provide a young person with time to further explore their gender identity without pressure or distress related to ongoing development of secondary sex characteristics.”
Premier Smith, during her media remarks, claimed that the use of hormone blockers was in-fact, irreversible.
The Alberta Medical Association Section of Paediatrics refuted that claim in a statement made on Feb. 1.
“The effects of puberty-blocking agents are not irreversible; and once treatment stops, puberty goes forward. Treatment allows the patient time to determine their options without permanent effects.”
“Puberty blocking actually has benefits for gender-divergent patients by preventing development of mature secondary sex characteristics so that, later in life, the most invasive gender-affirming surgery may not be necessary if the patient moves forward with gender-affirming care.”
The association also took issue with the government’s plan to create a registry of health care professionals providing care to transgender patients.
“Requiring a private registry of physicians to provide gender-affirming care has the feel of surveillance, to which we object. It is an unnecessary bureaucratic process given the current existence of effective referral processes and networks,” they said.
“Children and youth have the right to the appropriate medical care, at the appropriate time, and this should not be denied to them. We urge the Premier, in the strongest terms, to reconsider these proposed changes for care of transgender youth.”
