Many folks have asked me how to avoid the mandatory M/F labelling that the state does when a baby is born.
The short answer is: it's not easy.
Even though it is well-known that it is impossible to know a child's sex at birth based on visual inspection of the baby's genitals, and impossible to guess at their gender identity when they are born, the government continues to insist that children be assigned either M or F.
When a baby is born, if there is a medical practitioner (doctor, nurse, licensed midwife) who attends the birth, they are legally obliged to report the fact of the birth, and such details as the child's birth weight, place of birth, parent(s)...and their sex.
As the parent, you also have an obligation to file a Registration of Live Birth, which in turn asks you to report the infant's sex.
So, in order to avoid having your child's sex registered, you must convince your medical attendant not to specifiy 'm' or 'f'.  And you must not do so yourself.
BUT - and here is a big BUT - if you do that, the Vital Statistics Agency will NOT give you a birth certificate for the baby.  The Vital Statistics Act says specifically that a birth certificate has to show a child's sex.
Searyl Doty, a child whose birth was registered without a birth certificate, was initially refused, but later granted, medical services.  Their health card was issued with a 'U' for unspecified.   So I think it is likely that you would be able to be enrolled in the medical system. But, for example, you couldn't get a passport without a birth certificate. 
If you would like further information or to discuss the options, feel free to give us a call.  

Kori Doty is the now-famous trans parent whose child Searyl has a health card which (for the first time in the world, we think) has a "U" in the sex field. 
Listen the the fantastic interview Kori did with Piers Morgan in Britain:

The bad old days have passed, in one respect at least.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has removed the "conditional permanent residence". Formerly, if a Canadian permanent resident or citizen sponsored their partner for permanent residence, the sponsored person had to live with their partner for at least two years after becoming a PR.  There were exceptions for folks who had children together.
But if you had a 'conditional PR' and your relationship ended, you could face being sent back to your country of origin. 
There won't be 'conditional PR's' any more.
If you hold a conditional PR, and are concerned about it being enforced, make an appointment to discuss it with us. 

Nominations for the Kimberly Nixon Award for transgender, Two Spirit or gender non conforming people are open till June 9.

Kimberly Nixon is the trans woman who challenged Rape Relief and made legal history by establishing that human rights of trans people are protected on the ground of 'sex' - more than 10 years before gender identity or expression was added to human rights law.

This award was created to honour her work.  It is part of the Stand Out series of awards.

The Kimberly Nixon award will be given to a transgender, Two Spirit or gender non-conforming person who has made significant contributions to advancing transgender rights or creating positive social change for trans, Two Spirit and gender non-conforming people.

There are also awards in the categories of Business Leader, Educator, Friend of the Environment, Youth and Social Activism, for which of course trans, Two Spirit and gender nonconforming folk are also eligible.

You can nominate someone by completing the form here: DEADLINE IS JUNE 9! 

The winner will be announced on June 22.  

Qmunity made a long-awaited announcement today that it will have a new, purpose-built home at the northeast corner of Davie and Burrard.
The facility has yet to be built, so folks won't be moving next week.
But this development cements the role and importance of Qmunity in Vancouver's queer communities.
Bravo to everyone who worked so hard and long for this development. 

Things just got a bit easier for Canadians sponsoring non-Canadians, for two reasons.

Until recently, the federal spousal sponsorship programme required that if someone was sponsored as a commonlaw, conjugal partner or spouse of a Canadian, the applicant for PR was granted a 'conditional permanent residence'.  That meant that they had to live with their sponsor for two years after their PR was granted.  If they did not, their PR could be revoked.  There was an exception for couples who had a child together, or who had already lived together for two years.

The conditional PR has been revoked.  The announcement says that applicants will now get regular PR.  Any investigations into people who have allegedly were not meeting that condition will not proceed. 

The federal government announced today that as of October 24, 2017, applicants for permanent residence will be able to bring any children who are under 22 as dependents when they apply for permanent residence.
This will impact our clients who are applying to sponsor their partners for permanent residence.  The age limit used to be 22 but the Conservatives reduced it to 19.
Unfortunately the new rules will not apply to applications already submitted.  A person whose application to sponsor a partner could, under the new rules, extend to a child of their partner should discuss the question of whether it would be possible to get their kid in.

It's getting harder for "Christian" schools to refuse their students the right to form a Gay Straight Alliance.

The law in Alberta requires schools to permit GSA's, but the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society  refused.  Alberta's Ministry of Education, David Eggen, then commissioned an inquiry into the issue.  The province has just received the results of the inquiry, done by labour lawyer Dan Scott.

According to a report in Metro, Eggen had said in September that the inquiry could result in the school board being defunded (the province pays about 70% of its operating costs) or having its licence pulled.

Some same sex families who conceive with assisted reproductive technologies are getting a tax break in the new federal budget - and the change is retroactive!

Till now, the tax credit was restricted to those diagnosed as medically infertile.  The change extends the credit to single women or same sex couples.

Because the change is being characterized as a "clarification" of existing tax law, an expense incurred but not claimed in the last ten years can now be claimed.

The change only helps people who conceive by in vitro fertilization (IVF), which is primarily lesbian couples.  The change does not yet apply to the fertility costs associated with surrogacy, something the government says it is now examining.

A single IVF cycle can cost between $10,000 and $15,000.  Many folk say that fertility costs such as IVF or donor insemination should be covered by MSP in the first place.  Estimates are that 10,000 people undergo fertility treatments every year.   But until that happens, this tax break is a step in the right direction.

Hi folks I am passing on information about community-based funding opportunities through TransCare BC...
 
The PHSA Trans Care BC program is pleased to announce several upcoming funding opportunities for community. Learn more here.
 
The first opportunity welcomes Expressions of Interest for sites interested in hosting a Gender Journeys pilot. This opportunity has an application deadline of March 31, 2017 at 4:00pm. Applications can be downloaded at link above.
 
 
 

news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1166159Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced changes to the spousal sponsorship program, under which a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor their common law partner, conjugal partner, or spouse to become a permanent resident.
The changes, to come into effect December 15, 2017, will merge the "out of Canada" and the "in Canada" application processes.  The government is promising a reduction in processing times - currently 26 months for In Canada and 18 months for out of Canada applications - to 12 months.
There will be new forms and guide.  However, people in the middle of making an application have till January 2017 to submit applications using the old forms.
In related news, the "open work permit" program, which entitled in-Canada applicants to applly for a work permit while their application is being processed, is being extended for one year. 
​For details, go here.