'Dangerous' anti-trans policies are sweeping the U.S. Is Canada next?

LIBERTARIAN FASCISM

While Canada is no Florida, a platform released by the People's Party of Canada has raised concerns among members of the LGBTQ+ community

Elianna Lev
Thu, June 1, 2023 

A transfeminist activist and jurist from Quebec has gone viral on Instagram for raising the alarm on a dangerous new anti-trans platform released by the People's Party of Canada.

Celeste Trianon's post has been shared almost 15,000 times and has garnered heated discussion, including nearly 400 comments.



The post, an eight-image gallery outlining the Maxime Bernier-led far-right party's policy on "radical gender ideology" in both English and French, warns of the PPC's eyebrow-raising platform. On its website, the PPC claims transgender people have an "evil agenda" and are planning to "destroy" society with the help of the "woke far left and all establishment parties."

The plan includes modifying the Criminal Code to outlaw the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and any form of bodily mutilation on minors with the goal of “transitioning” to another sex, as well as forbidding “biological men” from entering women’s bathrooms, shelters, prisons and change rooms.

It echoes similar moves taking place in the United States, including most publicly in Florida, which has been under the spotlight recently for passing several bills that directly target queer and trans communities.

These include a ban on sexual orientation and gender identity materials in classrooms, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" law, and a ban on transgender women and girls taking part in school sports consistent with their gender identity.

Demonstrators gather to speak on the steps of the Florida Historic Capitol Museum in front of the Florida State Capitol, Monday, March 7, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida House Republicans advanced a bill, dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, to forbid discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, rejecting criticism from Democrats who said the proposal demonizes LGBTQ people. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)More

While some in the comments of Trianon's post downplay the threat of a party that has no elected seats, she warns that it's dangerous to be complacent.

"For those who say it's an American problem, it's not," Trianon tells Yahoo News Canada. "It's very local as well."

Trianon says this kind of policy sets an extremely dangerous precedent and directly targets the trans community.

“This is going to send a very strong message to Canadians that trans Canadians are not worthy of protection,” she says. “This is an anti-freedom policy from a party that’s promoted freedom for so long.”

When she posted about the PPC's policy on LinkedIn, the party responded in the comments, telling her to "read to whole statement before jumping to conclusions."

"They don't even think that this is anti-trans, which is the most horrifying part," she says. "They're not even aware of what they're doing."

Trianon says the PPC introducing this kind of platform is tapping into many people’s fears about gender non-conformity and gender roles by targeting an already marginalized group. She urges Canadians voting in the next election to do so with human rights at the top of mind.

“If you vote against human rights, you might be the next human targeted,” Trianon says.

While the PPC won no seats in the 2021 election — even leader Bernier could not win his Beauce riding — more than 840,000 Canadians voted for the party, almost 5 per cent of all votes. It had more than tripled its support from just two years prior.

This is going to send a very strong message to Canadians that trans Canadians are not worthy of protection.

Where do Canada's political parties stand on LGBTQ+ issues?

The anti-trans policy announcement from the PPC has some reexamining where the other main political parties stand on issues that impact the freedom and safety of the LGBTQ+ community.

Wilbur Turner is the chair and founder of Advocacy Canada, a Canadian advocacy group for queer and trans communities. He spoke to Yahoo Canada News about Canada's political parties' track records on LGBTQ+ issues.
NDP

On the NDP website, the party devotes an entire section to upholding LGBTQ+ rights, which includes increasing access to gender affirming procedures and medication.

Turner says the NDP have always been very supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

“There’s definitely no concerns or question marks with regards to where they stand,” he says. “They’ve been supportive. Whenever there’s been a vote with regards to any kind of rights, like the bill to protect trans rights in the criminal code, they’ve always been in favour. They have a good track record of supporting the community.”

Liberal Party

The Liberals' website highlights the party's record in fighting for LGBTQ+ rights throughout history, which includes decriminalizing homosexuality in 1969, and the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, which protects all Canadians from discrimination.

Turner credits the Liberals for having a “really great track record” on LGBTQ+ issues.

“They’ve done a lot of things to help out the community,” he says.

Turner says the Liberal government is loud on the world stage when it comes to rights being eroded in other countries, including Uganda, which recently signed one of the world’s most severe anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law.

However, he admits there are some things the Liberals promised that took a long time to get done, like a review of blood donation guidelines, which banned men who have sex with men from giving blood.

“There’s been lots of promises made and for the most part those have been kept,” Turner says. “(The Liberals) have been the ones supporting things that have changed, in terms of laws protecting trans people. We even saw the prime minster in his first year in office marching in pride parades.”

"There’s always more to be done," Turner adds. "Going back to what’s happening with regards to oppression and discrimination against the queer community, I think the Liberals need to step up and be very loud about this."


Conservative Party

The Conservative's 2021 recovery plan, under then-leader Erin O'Toole, stressed the party's commitment to fundamental human rights. It vowed to advocate for persecuted sexual minorities and pledged that a Conservative government would "speak clearly and confidently for the inalienable human dignity of LGBTQ people and deploy resources to help their activists." The party promised to make the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project a permanent government program.

However, Turner says he’d give the Conservatives a big question mark when it comes to their platform on LGBTQ+ issues, as a result of their mixed messages coming from within the party.

“Overall they have the message that they’re supportive, but then there are people in the party that behave otherwise, so it makes us very concerned if there was ever a Conservative government and it depends on who the leader is and what kind of voices they have in caucus to what might happen,” he says.

Some examples include:

Former leader Andrew Scheer refused to comment on his stance on same-sex marriage when leader of the party, even though he had spoken against it in the past.

62 Conservative party members voted against banning conversion therapy in the third reading of the bill in 2021.

Kelowna-Lake Country CPC MP lashed out at the LGBTQ+ community after being banned from attending Pride.

Turner says it’s a sign that the reality of what the queer and trans community faces isn’t always represented in those politicians, especially when party members have a long history of voting against any bills related to the LGBTQ+ community.

Green Party

The Green Party states under its values section its respect for diversity, which includes "recognition of and respect for sexual minorities" and "equality between people of all genders in all spheres of social, economic, political and cultural life."

Turner says that although the Green party isn’t well represented across Canada, for the most part there hasn’t been anything from the party that causes him concern.

“I haven’t seen any red flags that would leave me alarmed,” he says.

'We're safe nowhere': New anti-trans policy announcement by Canada's PPC sparks fears

People's Party of Canada's policy announcement on radical gender ideology is raising concerns

Corné van Hoepen
·Contributor, Yahoo News Canada
May 26, 2023·

An LGBTQ activist holds a sign reading "Trans People Just Want to Live" during a protest on March 17, 2023, in front of the US Consulate in Montreal, Canada, calling for transgender and non-binary people be admitted into Canada. - According to police services, some 200 people gathered in the rain to show support for the trans community in the United States. (Photo by ANDREJ IVANOV / AFP) (Photo by ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images) (ANDREJ IVANOV via Getty Images)More

A new policy announced by the leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in Manitoba on Tuesday is sparking fears among LGBTQ2S communities across the nation.

Speaking at a press event in Winkler, Man., Party Leader Maxime Bernier announced a new policy which takes aim at radical gender ideology.

“With the active support of the woke far left and all establishment parties, radical trans activists are trying to transform society in a way that curtails everyone’s freedoms,” Bernier said during the press conference. “This radical agenda, which contradicts basic biological realities, is proving particularly harmful to women and children.”

The policy lays out a seven-point plan, which includes:

Modifying the Criminal Code to outlaw the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and any form of bodily mutilation on minors with the goal of “transitioning” to another sex

Protecting women’s spaces – bathrooms, changing rooms, shelters, and prisons – from “intrusion by biological men”

Abolishing federal programs that fund sex change operations for civil servants and prisoners

Removing the ban imposed by Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy), on helping minors who suffer from gender dysphoria accept their body

Strictly enforcing section 163.1(1)(b) of the Criminal Code in order to remove inappropriate pornographic content from schools and libraries, which Action4Canada defines as sexually explicit and pornographic books that are being made available to children via schools and public libraries

Maintaining separate competitions for women in which “biological men” cannot participate in sports regulated and funded by the federal government

Repealing Bill C-16, which makes gender self-identification grounds for protection against discrimination

Should Canadians be concerned?

Though the PPC only won 820,000 votes, making up five per cent of the popular vote during the 2021 federal election, experts say that the rise in popularity of the party, which holds far-right values, cannot be ignored.

Historically, Bernier has denied ties and affiliations to far-right groups and white nationalists, despite his public stance on reducing immigration and scrapping the Multiculturalism Act.

A more concerning incident involving the PPC is a report by Press Progress, which exposed PPC candidate Mario Greco for allegedly creating a video game in which users were able shoot caricatures of minorities and LGBTQ2S people.

The idea used to be that Canada was immune to sort of far-right populism

Tamara Small, University of Guelph professor of political science

"I think lots of people are wondering, if he's [Bernier] just going to say ‘I'm not here to form government…I'm more here to challenge the system’” as a way of gaining support," Small said in a previous interview with media.

Where concerns are growing is the rise of anti-LGBTQ2S ideologies and hate speech instances occurring in Canada, which seem to reflect conversations and bills being passed in the United States.

During 2023, movements fuelled by national anti-LGBTQ2S group legislators across the United States have overridden the recommendations of the American medical establishments. They introduced hundreds of bills that target transgender and non-binary youth’s access to age-appropriate, medically-necessary care, according to the Non-Government Organization (NGO) Human Rights Campaign.

Public Response

"If you think that we're safe in Canada: this is the final straw. We're not," wrote Celeste Trianon in a statement posted to Instagram.

"We are only one election away from having our healthcare, civil liberties, and ability to live in public stolen away. We're one election away from becoming Florida. If the Conservatives adopt said platform, all our human rights will be gone. In a snap."


Other social media users chimed in expressing their concerns on how this policy has the potential to harm LGBTQ2S communities in Canada and others slammed Bernier for his views.

While some expressed that the current "woke" climate of Canada is "taking things too far", many couldn’t defend the policy spewing hateful thoughts.


Some organizations are asking Canadians to support the LGBTQ2S community.


"I'm greatly scared — this is why I feel like I gotta hide, we're safe nowhere.." shared one Instagram user in the comment section of Celeste Trianon's post above.

Another user commented "I have close friends in Florida, and they are making an exit plan to leave there, and they told me that they're thinking of moving to Canada and I was wondering if it was just as bad there as it is here."

The policy announced by the PPC is one held within the party, and does not reflect any bill of law within Canadian Parliament currently.

In a tweet posted in March 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged his ongoing support to those within all facets of the LGBTQ2S community.

"With a disturbing rise in anti-transgender hate here in Canada and around the world recently, I want to be very clear about one more thing: Trans women are women. We will always stand up to this hate – whenever and wherever it occurs," the prime minister tweeted.