TESA RESPONDS TO THE PEOPLE'S PARTY OF CANADA STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, September 7, 2021 -- ALBERTA
TESA RESPONDS TO THE PEOPLE”S PARTY OF CANADA STATEMENT
The Board of Directors and Members of the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA), condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the press release of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) dated September 4, 2021. The statement released by the PPC titled “A PPC Government Will Fight Radical Gender Ideology” is, in short, an unbridled attack on the Transgender community in Canada, this statement is rife with, “inaccuracies, straw man arguments and outright falsehoods,” says Holly Tomm, TESA Director/Board President.
While the PPC, begrudgingly, recognizes a citizen’s rights to identify with the gender they want, and that they must be respected and enjoy the same rights as every other Canadian the statement proceeds to state that the PPC would REPEAL Bill C-16, passed into law in 2016 that granted protected status on the grounds of Gender Identity (GI) and Gender Expression (GE) in the Canadian Human Rights Act. TESA would like to emphasize that Bill C-16 was put into law to protect the rights of a vulnerable population that experiences precarious circumstances pertaining to GI and GE.
Research by Veale et al.has shown that discrimination, harassment, and violence towards Canadian transgender individuals are highly prevalent and positively correlated with poor mental health outcomes (p. 214). Specifically, the survey by Veale et al. paints a grim picture of Canadian trans youth in that 75% of participants reported non-suicidal self-injury, 50% of participants experienced extreme anxiety in the past 30 days, and 35% of participants reported a suicide attempt in a one year period (p. 213). The purpose of Bill-16 is to afford transgender individuals improved health and social circumstances rather than to lay an attack on an unsuspecting population of women and children.
“The PPC’s statement erodes the lawful protection of transgender citizens in Canada in a misdirected attempt to protect the rights of non-transgender individuals and needless to say, the statement does not provide evidence or support that this protection is harmful to women, children, gays and lesbians”, stated Tomm. “In what way does the transgender rights movement pose a threat to these people? In point of fact children, and adults, who receive any positive support and acceptance, regardless of gender, are far more likely to experience a dramatic decrease in negative mental health outcomes.”
The statement continues with Boys and girls suffering from gender dysphoria are being encouraged to start transitioning, when most of them would grow to become healthy gays and lesbians. Young Canadians are NOT being encouraged to transition. They are, with the added protection of the law, now allowed to explore their GI and decide how they identify without the fear of persecution (p. 207-216). TESA would like to remind readers that gender transition is a long and rigorous process that is subject to many checkpoints, including reflection and psychological assessment to complete a journey of self-discovery. Furthermore, this statement conflates GI with sexuality. TESA understands that boys and girls could grow up to become healthy gays and lesbians in conjunction with being cisgender or transgender. We strongly condemn the practice of pushing gays and lesbians into heterosexual relationships with a forced gender transition. Transgender rights do not impede gay and lesbian rights and vice versa.
The statement continues women are encountering men in changing rooms and bathrooms. Violent criminals who are biological men but identify as women are being incarcerated in women’s prisons. TESA acknowledges anxieties pertaining to the presence of transwomen in women-only spaces, but these arguments need to be held in check with the safety of said transwomen. Restricting transwomen to men's changing rooms is not an appropriate remedy, but could result in additional violence directed towards transwomen. The statement implies that the actions of a few should be held to the transgender community as a whole. Nothing is further from the truth for we believe that such rarities can be dealt with on a case-to-case basis. TESA believes that the rights of transgender individuals need NOT collide with the rights of Canadians as a whole.
Canadian society has made some huge strides in accepting transgender individuals, and the entire 2SLGBTQI+ community in this country. We also recognize that there is much more hard work and many more difficult conversations to be had, and we know that they will be had despite harmful comments presented by some who advocate for “Freedom, Responsibility, Fairness and Respect.” Canada has always endeavoured to be an accepting and inclusive country. We, at TESA, understand that the topic of transgender rights transcends the political divide between right-wing and left-wing and offer an invitation for open dialogue to overcome these political barriers. The statements from the PPC do little to further this goal but generalizes transgender activists as left-wing radicals, which further contributes to a political divide in our country. We look forward to accomplishing our goal of upholding the rights of transgender individuals regardless of political affiliation.
TESA has, and remains to be, a Witness and Voice for the Transgender community in Alberta. We will continue the fight for education and representation of our community in this country.
More information about TESA can be found at http://www.tesaonline.org
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Please also see:
People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Press Release - A PPC Government Will Fight Radical Gender Ideology
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/a_ppc_government_will_fight_radical_gender_ideology
Research Veale, J. F., Peter, T., Travers, R., and Saewyc E. M. (2017). Enacted Stigma, Mental Health, and Protective Factors Among Transgender Youth in Canada; Transgender Health, 2(1), 207–216.
https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0031
Canadian Human Rights Act
https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-16/royal-assent
Media contacts can be reached by phone at Holly Tomm, TESA Director/Board President,
780-717-2744 or email at [email protected].
back to Newsroom | back to About
TESA RESPONDS TO THE PEOPLE”S PARTY OF CANADA STATEMENT
The Board of Directors and Members of the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA), condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the press release of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) dated September 4, 2021. The statement released by the PPC titled “A PPC Government Will Fight Radical Gender Ideology” is, in short, an unbridled attack on the Transgender community in Canada, this statement is rife with, “inaccuracies, straw man arguments and outright falsehoods,” says Holly Tomm, TESA Director/Board President.
While the PPC, begrudgingly, recognizes a citizen’s rights to identify with the gender they want, and that they must be respected and enjoy the same rights as every other Canadian the statement proceeds to state that the PPC would REPEAL Bill C-16, passed into law in 2016 that granted protected status on the grounds of Gender Identity (GI) and Gender Expression (GE) in the Canadian Human Rights Act. TESA would like to emphasize that Bill C-16 was put into law to protect the rights of a vulnerable population that experiences precarious circumstances pertaining to GI and GE.
Research by Veale et al.has shown that discrimination, harassment, and violence towards Canadian transgender individuals are highly prevalent and positively correlated with poor mental health outcomes (p. 214). Specifically, the survey by Veale et al. paints a grim picture of Canadian trans youth in that 75% of participants reported non-suicidal self-injury, 50% of participants experienced extreme anxiety in the past 30 days, and 35% of participants reported a suicide attempt in a one year period (p. 213). The purpose of Bill-16 is to afford transgender individuals improved health and social circumstances rather than to lay an attack on an unsuspecting population of women and children.
“The PPC’s statement erodes the lawful protection of transgender citizens in Canada in a misdirected attempt to protect the rights of non-transgender individuals and needless to say, the statement does not provide evidence or support that this protection is harmful to women, children, gays and lesbians”, stated Tomm. “In what way does the transgender rights movement pose a threat to these people? In point of fact children, and adults, who receive any positive support and acceptance, regardless of gender, are far more likely to experience a dramatic decrease in negative mental health outcomes.”
The statement continues with Boys and girls suffering from gender dysphoria are being encouraged to start transitioning, when most of them would grow to become healthy gays and lesbians. Young Canadians are NOT being encouraged to transition. They are, with the added protection of the law, now allowed to explore their GI and decide how they identify without the fear of persecution (p. 207-216). TESA would like to remind readers that gender transition is a long and rigorous process that is subject to many checkpoints, including reflection and psychological assessment to complete a journey of self-discovery. Furthermore, this statement conflates GI with sexuality. TESA understands that boys and girls could grow up to become healthy gays and lesbians in conjunction with being cisgender or transgender. We strongly condemn the practice of pushing gays and lesbians into heterosexual relationships with a forced gender transition. Transgender rights do not impede gay and lesbian rights and vice versa.
The statement continues women are encountering men in changing rooms and bathrooms. Violent criminals who are biological men but identify as women are being incarcerated in women’s prisons. TESA acknowledges anxieties pertaining to the presence of transwomen in women-only spaces, but these arguments need to be held in check with the safety of said transwomen. Restricting transwomen to men's changing rooms is not an appropriate remedy, but could result in additional violence directed towards transwomen. The statement implies that the actions of a few should be held to the transgender community as a whole. Nothing is further from the truth for we believe that such rarities can be dealt with on a case-to-case basis. TESA believes that the rights of transgender individuals need NOT collide with the rights of Canadians as a whole.
Canadian society has made some huge strides in accepting transgender individuals, and the entire 2SLGBTQI+ community in this country. We also recognize that there is much more hard work and many more difficult conversations to be had, and we know that they will be had despite harmful comments presented by some who advocate for “Freedom, Responsibility, Fairness and Respect.” Canada has always endeavoured to be an accepting and inclusive country. We, at TESA, understand that the topic of transgender rights transcends the political divide between right-wing and left-wing and offer an invitation for open dialogue to overcome these political barriers. The statements from the PPC do little to further this goal but generalizes transgender activists as left-wing radicals, which further contributes to a political divide in our country. We look forward to accomplishing our goal of upholding the rights of transgender individuals regardless of political affiliation.
TESA has, and remains to be, a Witness and Voice for the Transgender community in Alberta. We will continue the fight for education and representation of our community in this country.
More information about TESA can be found at http://www.tesaonline.org
-- 30 --
Please also see:
People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Press Release - A PPC Government Will Fight Radical Gender Ideology
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/a_ppc_government_will_fight_radical_gender_ideology
Research Veale, J. F., Peter, T., Travers, R., and Saewyc E. M. (2017). Enacted Stigma, Mental Health, and Protective Factors Among Transgender Youth in Canada; Transgender Health, 2(1), 207–216.
https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0031
Canadian Human Rights Act
https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-16/royal-assent
Media contacts can be reached by phone at Holly Tomm, TESA Director/Board President,
780-717-2744 or email at [email protected].
back to Newsroom | back to About