A group of people gathered in Calgary on Friday morning to speak out against the Alberta UCP’s proposed policies regarding transgender youth, gender-affirming care, sex education and parental notification.
The rally organized by Queer Citizens United was held outside McDougall Centre, where the premier met with members of the LGBTQ2 community regarding the proposed policies on Friday.
“There is fear, there is outrage,” said Victoria Bucholtz with Queer Citizens United. “There are people making escape plans. There are people who are planning to leave this province that they have grown up in, that they have lived and played in for decades. And people are feeling like we are at a really tough spot. There’s a strong determination to fight this.”
Earlier this year, the UCP unveiled a suite of policies it plans to introduce as legislation this fall.
There have been calls for more meaningful public consultation on the proposed policies. Organizers of Friday’s rally called the policies “discriminatory.”
“The UCP continues to choose not to speak to trans experts in the medical field and trans people and their families about the decisions they’re making unilaterally against us,” said James Demers, a community activist with Queer Citizens United.
“This is unacceptable. Citizens of Alberta do not accept this, as a form of discrimination, and we will be fighting them. Should these policies come into law, we will be taking them to court.”
A statement from the premier’s office said Smith “will be meeting with members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community to hear from them directly about what issues are important to them and how our government can continue to support them.”
Demers said he has reached out to the premier and Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir on multiple occasions in hopes of speaking with them about the policies.
He believes public consultation is happening “in secret” and would like to see the policies scrapped altogether.
“Removing these policies entirely from their legislative choices in the fall would be the only acceptable option. The only alternative to that would be both of their resignations,” Demers said of Smith and Fir.
Smith was not made available for an interview following the meeting, but Fir — who was in attendance Friday morning — said it was a “really productive meeting.”
“I thought there was a lot of open, civil, respectful conversation, (a) good opportunity for the premier and I to listen and hear what’s important to the stakeholders and allies that were in the room, give them an opportunity to ask some questions and have some good dialogue,” Fir said Friday afternoon.
The minister would not say who was involved in the discussion, beyond saying it involved “a wide range of community groups, organizations and individuals.”
“There were trans folks in attendance. There was a parent of a trans minor in attendance. There were some private organizations and community groups in attendance,” she said.
Fir also would not go into detail about what was talked about “out of respect for the privacy and vulnerableness and personal stories that were being shared.”
“The meeting was not a secretive meeting. We’re not talking or releasing about the names of the participants out of respect for their safety and privacy. Unfortunately, with some of the previous roundtables I’ve had, participants were publicly doxed and there was threats of violence to them and their loved ones,” Fir said.
“One of the common themes in the room was that so many people feel the same way on things and want to work together and understand each other’s perspectives and it’s sometimes unfortunate that the extreme voices on either side get most of the attention.”
The Alberta government intends to put forward legislation this fall to prevent young people under the age of 16 from accessing puberty-blocking therapy and ban anyone under the age of 18 from receiving gender-affirming surgery, top or bottom.
It is currently not possible for people under the age of 18 to access bottom gender-affirming surgery. Top surgery is permitted.
The UCP policies also address youth who want to change their name or pronouns in school. For children 15 and under, parental notification and parental consent will be required. For youth aged 16 and 17, parental notification will be required, but not parental consent.