Canada To Pass Bill To Protect Transgender People

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will introduce a bill today to protect transgender people.

From Buzzfeed

“I am proud to announce that tomorrow, on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, we will be tabling a bill in the House of Commons to ensure the full protection of transgender people,” Trudeau said on Monday night.

Trudeau made the announcement in Montréal where he was accepting the 2016 Laurent McCutcheon Award, which recognizes those committed to fighting homophobia and transphobia.

On Tuesday morning, his office released a statement saying the legislation “will help ensure transgender and other gender-diverse people can live according to their gender identity, free from discrimination, and protected from hate propaganda and hate crimes.”

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould is expected to announce the details of the bill at a press conference this morning.

Her mandate letter instructed her to introduce “government legislation to add gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and to the list of distinguishing characteristics of ‘identifiable group’ protected by the hate speech provisions of the Criminal Code.”

The House of Commons actually passed a transgender rights bill from NDP MP Randall Garrison during the last session of parliament, but it was slowly killed by the Senate.

First, a Senate committee amended the bill to limit its reach. Then the Red Chamber took so long to debate the bill that it never went to a vote before the last election.

Now that the legislation is being introduced as a government bill and the Liberals have a majority, it should have no problem passing the House.