Don't just think America has a problem

[ironbite]

Canada also has an issue with transgendered folks.  And by that I mean this.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/transgender-home-school-1.3575457

David James Lazure announced to family and friends that he was a boy last summer.

The 14-year-old was born a girl, but when reading up on gender identity, he knew he identified as a boy.

"I spent a lot of months thinking about my identity and questioning who I was. A few months later, I talked about it with my mom. My mom was really open, and she accepted me," Lazure said.

After confiding in his mother for nine months, Lazure felt ready to come out to his father, brothers and friends.

He announced his gender identity to his friends on Facebook last summer, hoping to start the new school year in September with a clean slate.

"My coming out went really well, and everyone really accepted me, so I wasn't really worried about school."

Lazure says his peers at his international school in McMasterville, about 30 kilometres east of Montreal, were accepting of him.

Inflexible administration

It was bureaucratic red tape that caused him grief.

"The principal had told me that she couldn't change the name on the list, so whenever a teacher would call out the name on the list, there would be my birth name. So I really didn't know what to say," Lazure said.

His mother, Odette Plante, said she went to speak to school officials at the start of the school year to ensure a smooth transition.

"He's had some teachers who, when they called him by the wrong name, said, 'It's not my fault if you chose to be transgender," Plante said. "But you don't choose to be transgender."

"I think it's a lack of training. People are not equipped, so we should give guidelines to schools and school boards to help them react better in these situations."

Like to pull out something that really really angers me.

"He's had some teachers who, when they called him by the wrong name, said, 'It's not my fault if you chose to be transgender," Plante said. "But you don't choose to be transgender."

Does that not just infuriate you?  Does me.  I mean seriously.  You don't choose to be transgender?  No fucking duh dipshit.  You just are.  Its a way to be comfortable with in your skin.  Not some fashion choice you make because it's trendy you fucking bigots.

Ironbite-gonna go to the angery dimension now.

[dpareja]

This is one of those issues where I'm ashamed of my country.

EDIT: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transgender-rights-bill-gutted-by-transphobic-senate-amendment-1.2975024

Advocates for Canadian transgender rights legislation were set back and frustrated with what they say is a "transphobic" Senate committee amendment that limits the effectiveness of the bill.

NDP MP Randall Garrison's private member's bill, C-279, seeks to fight hate crimes against transgender individuals by adding gender identity provisions to both the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

...

On Wednesday at the Senate committee finally tasked with reviewing the legislation, Conservative Senator Don Plett introduced three amendments.

Garrison told reporters he didn't have a problem with two of them:

One is a tactical amendment to make it correspond to other legislation, like C-13, the Tories' cyberbullying legislation.

The other removes a definition for gender identity not included in his original bill, but added by Commons Conservatives to clarify its application before passage.

The third amendment, however, exempts places like prisons, crisis centres, and public washrooms and change rooms from the bill's provisions. That, Garrison says, is "transphobic."

Oh, and some choice quotes from Canadian politicians:

https://openparliament.ca/bills/41-1/C-279/

From Rob Anders:

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to present, on behalf of thousands of people who sent these to my office, petitions in opposition to Bill C-279, otherwise known as “the bathroom bill”, that would give transgendered men access to women's public washroom facilities. These constituents feel that it is the duty of the House of Commons to protect and safeguard our children from any exposure and harm that would come from giving a man access to women's public washroom facilities. I present thousands of signatures on behalf of the riding in Calgary West, and I know that there are many others that have gone to other members in this place.

From Dean Allison:

However, I would also like to discuss a very real concern that was expressed during debate on an earlier version of this bill from the previous Parliament. In fact, this argument resulted in the previous bill being dubbed the “bathroom bill” in certain quarters.

The fact is that creating a right to gender identity and gender expression would likely result in men who are in gender reassignment therapy having access to girls' bathrooms. As the bill would also give special rights to those who simply consider themselves to be transgendered, the door would be open to sexual predators having a legal defence to charges of being caught in a women's washroom or locker room.

I find this potentially legitimized access for men in girls' bathrooms to be very disconcerting. As sexual predators are statistically almost always men, imagine the trauma that a young girl would face, going into a washroom or a change room at a public pool and finding a man there. It is unconscionable for any legislator, purposefully or just neglectfully, to place her in such a compromising position.

The bill would not address this very real possibility and in itself is reason for me to personally not support it.

[lord gibbon]

Conservatives really think the whole bathrooms thing is a winning issue, don't they? It's not going to last, and they'll be left holding the bag... again.

[dpareja]

Conservatives really think the whole bathrooms thing is a winning issue, don't they? It's not going to last, and they'll be left holding the bag... again.

Zeke Christopoulos, Chaz Bono and Buck Angel walk into a women's restroom...

[Ultimate Paragon]

Is this really the hill these people want to die on?

[Ironchew]

Is this really the hill these people want to die on?

Anything even hypothetically involving school, sex, and "my little kid" is a hill most adults are willing to die on, yes. It's a tried-and-true way for demagogues to energize their useful idiots.

[dpareja]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ahuntsic-medical-clinic-arson-1.3564543

Just dug this up from about a week and a half ago...

Some in the transgender community are worried a suspicious fire at a Montreal clinic will add delays to an already lengthy process to get gender reassignment surgery.

On Monday around 8:45 p.m., police say a man entered the Centre Métropolitain de Chirurgie (CMC) at 999 Salaberry St. and and set a fire.

The fire was extinguished by sprinklers prior to the arrival of firefighters. No one was hurt.

The CMC, a private medical centre, offers various cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries including gender reassignment, also known as gender confirmation surgery.

The hospital's owner, Dr. Pierre Brassard, is one of the only surgeons in the country who performs genital reassignment surgery.

Danielle Chenier, a representative for the trans support group Aide aux trans du Québec (ATQ), said she was shocked by news of the arson at the CMC.

"That's really an important place for the community," she said.

Chenier said the clinic was the only one in Canada performing gender confirmation surgery and people waited for years to get it.

I'm actually more surprised that there are so few clinics in Canada performing gender confirmation surgery than that this one was hit by an arsonist.

[Sigmaleph]

Is this really the hill these people want to die on?

Anything even hypothetically involving school, sex, and "my little kid" is a hill most adults are willing to die on, yes. It's a tried-and-true way for demagogues to energize their useful idiots.

see also: "we need to know every bit of data shared on the internet or there will be child pornography! Do you want to side with us, or the paedos?"

[dpareja]

Is this really the hill these people want to die on?

Anything even hypothetically involving school, sex, and "my little kid" is a hill most adults are willing to die on, yes. It's a tried-and-true way for demagogues to energize their useful idiots.

see also: "we need to know every bit of data shared on the internet or there will be child pornography! Do you want to side with us, or the paedos?"

Replying to a post that reminded me that I have to #TellVicEverything

[Canadian Mojo]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ahuntsic-medical-clinic-arson-1.3564543

Just dug this up from about a week and a half ago...

Some in the transgender community are worried a suspicious fire at a Montreal clinic will add delays to an already lengthy process to get gender reassignment surgery.

On Monday around 8:45 p.m., police say a man entered the Centre Métropolitain de Chirurgie (CMC) at 999 Salaberry St. and and set a fire.

The fire was extinguished by sprinklers prior to the arrival of firefighters. No one was hurt.

The CMC, a private medical centre, offers various cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries including gender reassignment, also known as gender confirmation surgery.

The hospital's owner, Dr. Pierre Brassard, is one of the only surgeons in the country who performs genital reassignment surgery.

Danielle Chenier, a representative for the trans support group Aide aux trans du Québec (ATQ), said she was shocked by news of the arson at the CMC.

"That's really an important place for the community," she said.

Chenier said the clinic was the only one in Canada performing gender confirmation surgery and people waited for years to get it.

I'm actually more surprised that there are so few clinics in Canada performing gender confirmation surgery than that this one was hit by an arsonist.

I haven't looked at the numbers in a few years, but I think out total population is smaller than California's. Looking at some of the data, only three actual cities (based on boundaries) crack a million; the number goes up to four, with two more in the nines, if you go by population center. (2011 data grabbed off of wiki)

On top of that we're spread out across the width of the continent.

When you factor in the draw of U.S. for profit clinics poaching potential specialists, the fact is we can probably only viably support one clinic. The same issue comes up for a lot of other specialties as well. It can certainly suck if you need one of those specialists and they are on the other side of the continent.

[dpareja]

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8280564

This bill, given first reading today in Parliament, adds "gender identity or expression" to the relevant sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

And now to wait and see if Don Plett is still a transphobic embarrassment.

[Souriquois]

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8280564

This bill, given first reading today in Parliament, adds "gender identity or expression" to the relevant sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

And now to wait and see if Don Plett is still a transphobic embarrassment.

Yeah, watch it get gutted by the Senate again. There are some bigoted old fossils sitting in there. I have gotten into it with Conservative Senator Linda Frum on Twitter. :lol: She spends more time on there Tweeting hate propaganda than doing her damn job.

[dpareja]

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8280564

This bill, given first reading today in Parliament, adds "gender identity or expression" to the relevant sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

And now to wait and see if Don Plett is still a transphobic embarrassment.

Yeah, watch it get gutted by the Senate again. There are some bigoted old fossils sitting in there. I have gotten into it with Conservative Senator Linda Frum on Twitter. :lol: She spends more time on there Tweeting hate propaganda than doing her damn job.

At this point it's only a matter of time. The Liberals will be whipped to vote in favour of it, NDP MPs would be destroyed at nomination meetings or, if not there, the ballot box if they don't vote in favour of it (if they're not also whipped), and there's just enough Conservatives who support it (and there's more and more as time goes on) to ensure it can get through the House even if there's a Conservative majority there (like it did in the last Parliament). Meanwhile, Senators are quite aware that whatever they may think of the legislation, they can only thwart the House so many times before they have to knuckle under. The last really high-profile time they did that was Mulroney's abortion legislation (which failed on a tie vote in the Senate) and even today I can walk 15 minutes from where I live and see pro-life protesters.

[Souriquois]

Meanwhile, Senators are quite aware that whatever they may think of the legislation, they can only thwart the House so many times before they have to knuckle under.

I am skeptical. I wouldn't put anything past this new Conservative Party. They're acting like the GOP.

[dpareja]

Meanwhile, Senators are quite aware that whatever they may think of the legislation, they can only thwart the House so many times before they have to knuckle under.

I am skeptical. I wouldn't put anything past this new Conservative Party. They're acting like the GOP.

They'll pass it themselves (and, actually, quite a few Conservative MPs are now supporting it who didn't when it last came to a vote--case in point, Tony Clement--which might extend to the Senate since Conservative Senators are still part of the Conservative Parliamentary caucus and therefore would discuss these things with their counterparts in the House) or eventually Trudeau will have appointed enough Senators that it'll pass the Senate whatever the bigoted asses there might want.