Good News Out of Canada

C-389, the bill to protect Canadian transpeople from discrimination, proceded through another step Wednesday.  The committee report passed the House of Commons with a standing vote of 143-131.  The timetable is to have third reading in March, two hours of debate, and then a final vote.

Holding a report stage vote is “not normal,” but this extra step proved not to be an insurmountable barrier.

The bill adds “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the Canadian Human Rights Act’s list of prohibited grounds for discrimination.

The vote was mostly along party lines, though 5 Conservatives voted in favor and 3 Liberals voted against.  One of the Conservatives who voted in favor was Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP Leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe were among the MPs who voted in favour of the bill. Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t present for the vote.

As you might guess, this has caused a huge uproar in some circles.  To become law, the bill must also eventually pass the Senate and “gain Royal assent”.  There are already calls for Ignatieff to resign over this.

[E]vangelical Christian leader Charles McVety says the legislation could be used by male sexual predators to walk into women’s washrooms.

Charles.  May I call you Charles?  We have much more to fear from the likes of you than you do from us.  I realize that you would prefer that we don’t even exist, but we do…and as living, breathing humans, one of the fundamental rights in any modern society should be the right to safely use a public restroom.  “Public” means it should be for everyone.  Painting us as pedophiles and rapists just shows your ignorance of us.  The rapists and pedophiles are over in the men’s restroom.  You can trust us on this.  We have experience on this issue.

The implications of this bill are horrendous.  It changes the whole concept of gender.  This so-called equality is really a fundamental restructuring of society.  For whose benefit?

–Gwen Landolt, national vice-president of REAL Women of Canada

REAL stands for “Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life”.  Except, apparently, for the equal part.  

Oh, Gwen, Gwen, Gwen.  Gwen.  You opposed the Museum of Human Rights with these words:

Supporters of the museum have “made a monster of the word tolerance, [have] raped the word gay, and [have] beheaded the term human rights.

—Link

And you took it upon yourself to apologize to humanity for Canada’s legalization of same-sex marriage.  Wrong then.  Wrong now.

The shame is that these people are going to get 3 months to marshal their forces to against the transgender horde victimizing them.  And history has shown that when push finally comes to shove, people like this prevail with their fear-mongering all too often.  And we transgender people end up bearing the brunt…often in an increase in violence and discrimination against us.

Because the truth is that we are not a danger to you, but you are a danger to us.  Changing the concept of gender?  You apparently don’t have one in your philosophy.  You’re stuck with sex being what gender is.  Do we want to restructure society?  Well, sure…as long as includes room for us.  And that, dear woman, is really what you don’t want.  You don’t want a society that would include the likes of us as worthwhile human beings.  Your stuck in the past with your “REAL women.”  And you refuse to allow space for a civilized society to grow.

If you think protecting transpeople’s rights in the Human Right’s Act, this next item is likely to cause some apoplexy:  the Canadian military has decided that it is appropriate for transpeople to dress in uniforms of their target gender.  My God, what is the world coming to?