Daily BrewBill C-16 a launching pad to equality for trans Canadians
Bill C-16 is efficient. Strip away the summary, definitions and explanatory notes, and there are the important amendments — just three sentences long.
Advocates say the changes proposed by the Liberal government to the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Criminal Code could make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of transgender Canadians, if the bill is passed by Parliament.
“Language is very powerful in being able to make space for inclusion,” said Jack Saddleback, equity co-ordinator in the human resources department at the University of Saskatchewan (UofS). Saddleback describes himself as a Cree, two-spirit transgender gay man.
Bill C-16 uses the phrases “gender identity and gender expression” in order to protect transgender Canadians from discrimination in the workplace or while accessing services, and against hate propaganda and hate crimes.
First and foremost, the passage of Bill C-16 would be an acknowledgment by the Canadian government and, by extension, Canadian citizens that transgender people exist, Saddleback said.
“We are not this mythical creature,” he said. “We are not unicorns out there in the forest. We are people here. We contribute to our society in more ways than one.”
London, Ont.-based lawyer Nicole Nussbaum is project lead on Transforming Justice: Trans Legal Needs Assessment Ontario, working to determine the barriers trans people facing in accessing justice. She has advocated for transgender rights and equality for more than a decade.
Nussbaum, a trans woman, describes C-16 as “a simple bill that was created to deal with a drastic situation.” Its passage would bring dignity to a community that has been marginalized, endured discrimination, and verbal and physical harassment, assault and even murder, for decades, she said.
It’s important the federal government have a standard that goes right across the country, Nussbaum said: “To make it clear that trans people’s rights are human rights and that they are valued and fully part of Canadian society.”
The current shift in societal attitudes about transgender issues is the product of decades of work by trans community members.
“On the advocacy side we used to walk into meetings with legislators or policymakers, and the first thing you had to do was convince them of your basic humanity,” Nussbaum said.
A decade or more ago there was little data or studies and the public understood little about transgender issues — the lack of access to medical care and employment for instance.
“The dehumanizing attitude we had to contend with was that trans people were frightening and either sick or evil. Or both,” she said. “And with no redeeming qualities at all. Forget about intrinsic human value.”
Saddleback, who has a sociology and entrepreneurship degree from UofS, said it was important to include gender expression [in the bill] because “some people don’t fall within society’s expectations of what gender means.”
He explained that gender exists on a continuum and there are four basic aspects: gender identity, which is a person’s internal perception of their own gender; gender expression or how a person expresses that gender to the outside world in the way they dress and the roles they take on; third is birth sex; and fourth is romantic orientation.
“Gender expression can change and people can fall anywhere in the spectrum at any given date,” he said.
For many trans people, merely existing within that spectrum, has led to discrimination and harassment.
Road to inclusion
The data clearly shows that transgender people are suffering. In 2010, the Trans Pulse Project surveyed 433 trans people across Ontario. Two-thirds of respondents said they had avoided public spaces, such as malls, clothing stores, restaurants, gyms and schools because they feared being harassed.
Respondents also reported barriers and discrimination in accessing employment and health care. While a higher percentage of trans people had postsecondary education, their income levels did not reflect this. The majority lived below the poverty line.
LGBTQ activist and trans woman, Rachel Lauren Clark has faced discomfort and discrimination from prospective employers during job interviews. One interviewer recently told her she wouldn’t “fit in” at their office.
“How can I prove that they are discriminating against me because I’m trans? So, no law is going to fix that,” she said.
But she believes Bill C-16 provides the transgender community with a launching pad.
“It really gives us a platform to start to talk about how we achieve equality with other people.”
Tracking hate crimes
While Bill C-16 may be a step towards inclusion it does not automatically mean safety. An October 2014 Trans Pulse report found that trans people are the targets of specifically directed violence; 20 per cent had been physically or sexually assaulted for being trans, and another 34 per cent had been verbally threatened or harassed but not assaulted.
As Nussbaum says: “Legislation is not a force field.” But it does lead to increased knowledge and explicit policies, as well as improved data collection to help identify resources that will improve the situation, she said.
To that end, the passage of the bill will result in will better tracking of explicit hate crimes. And she added, “Prosecutors will have to consider the issue more and examine if a particular assault was motivated by hate or bias against trans or gender non-conforming people. It will make them ask the question.”
This month, Toronto police are asking themselves the question, “How can we do better?” It came about after a Gormley, Ont., musician and transgender man, Boyd Kodak, filed a transphobia complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission after he was arrested in 2012.
The police stripped his clothing, forced him into a women’s prison gown for his court hearing, and placed him in a holding cell for female inmates. He was taunted with verbal assaults. Kodak and the Toronto Police Service came to a settlement agreement and the police issued a news release saying that, by June 24, they intend to develop and revise their policies, procedures and training “in consultation with the Trans community, to address its interactions with Trans people.”
There’s no fee to lodge a complaint with the human rights commission; however, it’s always beneficial to have legal advice or representation, particularly if a complaint reaches tribunal stage. Retaining council can be expensive, Nussbaum acknowledges, and that can be a barrier for many, if not most trans people.
Change is coming
Once Bill C-16 passes, Saddleback believes it will take time and education to help reduce barriers that trans people face.
He referenced the new Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre on the UofS campus, which opened last year. The centre celebrates First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture at the university. Every washroom is gender neutral (or universal). It took several years but, “It went from an idea to the architect to the builder and to being created. And now it’s here, it’s effective and it’s just incredible,” Saddleback said.
“Incremental changes right from the seed are going to create a welcoming and inclusive society,” he added.
