Gender Identity added to Federal Laws

Yesterday, the House of Commons passed a law adding ‘gender identity’ to the list of protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.

NDP MP Randall Garrison introduced the legislation as a private member’s bill.  In his version, the words ‘gender identity and gender expression’ would have been added to both laws.

But in the process of getting the law passed, compromises were made.  The law now extends only to ‘gender identity’, and that term (unlike other prohibited grounds) is defined.  The definition says “gender identity” means, in respect of an individual, the individual’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex that the individual was assigned at birth.

The result of the amendments is two fold.  Though trans people have been consistently successful complaining about discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act on the grounds of ‘sex’, the addition of this new ground makes it visible to everyone that trans people are protected.  That is an important public education function. 

The second protection for trans people is in the ‘hate crimes’ section of the Criminal Code. That section provides for increased sentencing where it can be shown that a crime was motivated by bias, prejudice or hatred against an identifiable group.  ‘Gender identity’, defined in the same way as in the Canadian Human Rights Act, has been added to the list.

The change to the Criminal Code is important, but applying it is sometimes a problem, since assailants do not necessarily shout “I am beating you up because of your gender identity!”  Unless there is some evidence that that was the motive, courts have not used the sentencing provisions much.

The bill will not take effect until it is considered by the Senate (who can amend it) and given royal assent.

You can find the full bill at http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=6053237

Bill C-279, which passed second reading in June 2012, would amend human rights legislation to add 'gender identity' to the list of protected grounds.  (While trans people have been consistently successful with human rights complaints on the ground of 'sex', adding 'gender identity' makes it clear to the public that transpeople are protected by human rights laws).

Christine Molloy reports that Calgary MP Rob Anders (Calgary West) has told his constituents and his church pastor that passage of the bill would allow 'transgender men' (he means transwomen) to have access to women's washrooms.

Jan Buterman, a trans advocate, and Christine Molloy both argue correctly that an objection to trans people using the washroom appropriate to their gender identity is based on the assumption that trans people are likely to act inappropriately in the washroom:  a quintessentially transphobic argument.

Write your MP and dissociate yourself from these transphobic arguments; and tell your MP to support Bill C-279.

The First Nations Caring Society, the Assembly of First Nations, and Amnesty International filed a human rights complaint alleging discrimination by the federal government because the funding provided for child welfare services on reserve is much less than is provided by provinces for First Nations children living off reserve.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal held that there was no discrimination because there was no other group which received funding for child welfare services from the federal government, and therefore no one to compare the federal funding policies to, and therefore no discrimination!  On that basis, the tribunal dismissed the complaint without even hearing evidence.
The Federal Court said that the Tribunal made a mistake in dismissing the application at that stage and sent the case back to be heard by a different panel of the tribunal.  Stay tuned for the decision of that panel.
For the complete decision:  Canadian Human Rights Commission v Canada
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=first+nations+caring+society&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/ca/fct/doc/2012/2012fc445/2012fc445.html