They Got It Right

Are friends to the north got it right when they passed protections for us.

Transgender human rights bill passes, with some Liberal dissent
Vancouver Sun
By Rob Shaw
Published on: July 25, 2016

VICTORIA — A new law to protect transgender rights in B.C.’s Human Rights Code passed into law Monday, despite opposition from at least one of the governing party’s own MLAs.

Laurie Throness, the Liberal MLA for Chilliwack-Hope, said his religious beliefs prevented him from supporting legislation to specifically enshrine protection for transgender people in the human rights law. He said he believes in a fixed-gender, which is decided at birth, and described the LGBTQ community as a powerful lobby group intolerant of himself and others who disagree that the law would add necessary protections.

Though its rare for a Liberal MLA to criticize his own government’s legislation, Throness did not go so far as to vote against the bill. Instead, he abstained from voting at all. The bill passed unanimously.

In another Vancouver Sun article they list the protections,

Highlights include:

• Continue building and retrofitting public facilities to add universal washrooms and signs. Signs are designed to use function-based icons rather than gendered figures.
• Ensure an inclusive approach in all recreational programs and implement pilot programs for trans and gender variant participants.
• Acknowledge that people who identify as TGV2S [trans*, gender variant and two-spirit] often face discrimination in housing. At city-operated shelters, single room occupancies and supportive housing, the city will allocate resources to create gender-specific programs and spaces.
• Use granting programs in community services to help foster gender diversity and equity in arts and culture and to support gender creative children and families with TGV2S parents in child care. Creating a supportive environment can help prevent children from hiding their true identity at a young age.
• Create a level of trust among TGV2S people that they will not have to “worry about gender when navigating public spaces and/or programs.” The city will aim to train staff so that TGV2S people are seen “as an asset to the city because of their unique gifts, insights and contributions.”

This is more than protections it also includes funding to improve services for us and according to the mayor's office,

“Over the years Vancouver has shown incredible leadership in our commitment to equality, acceptance and inclusion, and we are a stronger and more vibrant City for it,” says Mayor Gregor Robertson. “I’m proud to support this progressive TGV2S Inclusion policy that brings us even further in achieving equal rights and access to services for all residents.”

I wish some U.S. cities would follow Vancouver's lead.