TESA RESPONDS TO ANTI-TRANS PROTESTS AT CALGARY POOL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Wednesday, February 22, 2023 -- ALBERTA
TESA RESPONDS TO ANTI-TRANS PROTESTS AT CALGARY POOL
On February 6, far right websites amplified a claim about a trans woman parading naked and displaying genitalia in view of children, inside the women's change room at Canyon Meadows Aquatic and Fitness Centre, in Calgary's southwest. Since then, transphobic groups have continued to stage protests and make inflammatory allegations about what took place.
The claims are obviously distorted, and in normal times would not deserve to be dignified with a reply. An investigation by police, the facility and the City turned up no reason to proceed further. However, because this has continued to creep into the news cycle1 for so long, the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA) feels compelled to respond.
While TESA does not speak for the trans woman who had been complained about at the Canyon Meadows Pool, we feel secure in saying that the claims being made have been grossly distorted, if not fabricated entirely.
It should be noted that the claims being made coincide with ongoing campaigns by anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and transphobic groups to conflate trans people, drag performers, and even LGBTQIA2+ people in general with
"groomers"2 and predators, and to portray our legal rights as posing some sort of threat to the public at large.
This rhetoric has not been overly effective in Canada thus far, since human rights protections rolled out across Canada years ago -- in all provinces and territories -- between 2002 and 2017.3 Government identity documents have likewise recognized trans self-ID, between 2014 and 2017. Given the lack of a crisis generated by these changes, transphobes have now had to resort to distortions, stunts and fabrications to get attention.
However, Canada is still a part of the global community, and this rhetoric has also been playing out in the US4 and UK with significantly more efficacy, capitalizing on poor awareness and understanding about trans people. In the US, it resurfaced last year with sensationalistic claims about trans youth and has already escalated to bans in some states on coverage and/or access to health care for some trans adults.5 In the UK, it has resulted in the tragic murder of a 14-year-old trans teen.6 It has escalated to the point that people have considered fleeing to Canada7 to escape the hatred being generated by this rhetoric.
It also takes place at a time in which cynical, mostly far right individuals and organizations have been using sensationalism about trans people and drag -- along with fearmongering about immigrants, Critical Race Theory, public health mandates and more -- to manufacture a new "movement,"8 and to drive wedges between progressive
groups. In this way, transphobia is used as a seemingly innocuous entry point to more extreme ideas.9 In particular, transphobic hate has been used to attempt to erase any mention of the existence of trans and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in schools and libraries, something that Canada has not been immune to.10
While freedom of speech is a key principle critical to Canadian society, there are important limitations when that speech poses an immediate and undue harm: we see this in existing laws against libel, incitement and harassment. It is clear that existing protections against hate speech are not going far enough to protect trans,
2SLGBTQIA+ and similarly targeted minority groups, at this time.
However, it should also be noted that this past weekend, the very bylaws intended to protect people from street harassment were instead used to threaten charges against counter protesters who were defending trans people.11 Rethinking hate speech law is not enough, if systemic issues remain in the way that they are applied.
CONTACTS:
April & Drayse
email; info@tesaonline.org
More information about TESA can be found at http://www.tesaonline.org
REFERENCES
1 For example, https://globalnews.ca/news/9499409/calgary-teens-may-face-street-harassment-fines-counter-protest-anti-lgbtq/
2 https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/grifter-gays-how-conspiracy-theorists-and-right-wing-operatives-created
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_rights_in_Canada
4 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5d383z/anti-trans-violence-2022
5 https://19thnews.org/2023/01/trans-health-care-bills-2023-legislative-session-lgbtq/
6 https://www.lgbtqnation.com/?p=378105
7 https://xtramagazine.com/power/canada-trans-immigration-petition-245702
8 https://xtramagazine.com/power/canada-conservatives-culture-war-245693
9 https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/01/straight-line-q-anons-pedophilia-hysteria-gops-groomer-rhetoric/
10 https://www.antihate.ca/anti_trans_activists_disrupting_school_boards_canada
11 https://globalnews.ca/news/9499409/calgary-teens-may-face-street-harassment-fines-counter-protest-anti-lgbtq/
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TESA RESPONDS TO ANTI-TRANS PROTESTS AT CALGARY POOL
On February 6, far right websites amplified a claim about a trans woman parading naked and displaying genitalia in view of children, inside the women's change room at Canyon Meadows Aquatic and Fitness Centre, in Calgary's southwest. Since then, transphobic groups have continued to stage protests and make inflammatory allegations about what took place.
The claims are obviously distorted, and in normal times would not deserve to be dignified with a reply. An investigation by police, the facility and the City turned up no reason to proceed further. However, because this has continued to creep into the news cycle1 for so long, the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA) feels compelled to respond.
While TESA does not speak for the trans woman who had been complained about at the Canyon Meadows Pool, we feel secure in saying that the claims being made have been grossly distorted, if not fabricated entirely.
It should be noted that the claims being made coincide with ongoing campaigns by anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and transphobic groups to conflate trans people, drag performers, and even LGBTQIA2+ people in general with
"groomers"2 and predators, and to portray our legal rights as posing some sort of threat to the public at large.
This rhetoric has not been overly effective in Canada thus far, since human rights protections rolled out across Canada years ago -- in all provinces and territories -- between 2002 and 2017.3 Government identity documents have likewise recognized trans self-ID, between 2014 and 2017. Given the lack of a crisis generated by these changes, transphobes have now had to resort to distortions, stunts and fabrications to get attention.
However, Canada is still a part of the global community, and this rhetoric has also been playing out in the US4 and UK with significantly more efficacy, capitalizing on poor awareness and understanding about trans people. In the US, it resurfaced last year with sensationalistic claims about trans youth and has already escalated to bans in some states on coverage and/or access to health care for some trans adults.5 In the UK, it has resulted in the tragic murder of a 14-year-old trans teen.6 It has escalated to the point that people have considered fleeing to Canada7 to escape the hatred being generated by this rhetoric.
It also takes place at a time in which cynical, mostly far right individuals and organizations have been using sensationalism about trans people and drag -- along with fearmongering about immigrants, Critical Race Theory, public health mandates and more -- to manufacture a new "movement,"8 and to drive wedges between progressive
groups. In this way, transphobia is used as a seemingly innocuous entry point to more extreme ideas.9 In particular, transphobic hate has been used to attempt to erase any mention of the existence of trans and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in schools and libraries, something that Canada has not been immune to.10
While freedom of speech is a key principle critical to Canadian society, there are important limitations when that speech poses an immediate and undue harm: we see this in existing laws against libel, incitement and harassment. It is clear that existing protections against hate speech are not going far enough to protect trans,
2SLGBTQIA+ and similarly targeted minority groups, at this time.
However, it should also be noted that this past weekend, the very bylaws intended to protect people from street harassment were instead used to threaten charges against counter protesters who were defending trans people.11 Rethinking hate speech law is not enough, if systemic issues remain in the way that they are applied.
CONTACTS:
April & Drayse
email; info@tesaonline.org
More information about TESA can be found at http://www.tesaonline.org
REFERENCES
1 For example, https://globalnews.ca/news/9499409/calgary-teens-may-face-street-harassment-fines-counter-protest-anti-lgbtq/
2 https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/grifter-gays-how-conspiracy-theorists-and-right-wing-operatives-created
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_rights_in_Canada
4 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5d383z/anti-trans-violence-2022
5 https://19thnews.org/2023/01/trans-health-care-bills-2023-legislative-session-lgbtq/
6 https://www.lgbtqnation.com/?p=378105
7 https://xtramagazine.com/power/canada-trans-immigration-petition-245702
8 https://xtramagazine.com/power/canada-conservatives-culture-war-245693
9 https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/01/straight-line-q-anons-pedophilia-hysteria-gops-groomer-rhetoric/
10 https://www.antihate.ca/anti_trans_activists_disrupting_school_boards_canada
11 https://globalnews.ca/news/9499409/calgary-teens-may-face-street-harassment-fines-counter-protest-anti-lgbtq/
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