Do you think referring to a man as a she/her is stupid? Yeah, well you may have to watch your step and bite your tongue in Canada or face the consequences. Write your MP and get them started on amending these laws to include a lick of common sense.
‘Back in 2016, I fought tirelessly just to publish anything, anywhere, explaining my concerns about Bill C-16, Canada’s gender identity legislation. Almost no outlet would consider it (certainly not our publicly-funded CBC), except, finally, The National Observer, who did me the favour. As a result, I was invited (via a Conservative senator) to testify against the bill at the Senate — I and Pour les droits des femmes Quebec (PDF), a Quebecois feminist group, were the only women and feminists invited to speak against the bill, and I suggested a representative from Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter also make a presentation, to put forward a feminist argument in favour of women-only space.
Our arguments were completely ignored by our left wing political representatives in the NDP, as well as by the Liberal government that proposed the bill, and Bill C-16 passed almost unchallenged. I had suspected as much, but wanted it to at least be on record that there was some push back from women/feminists. The only person who really received any traction on his arguments was Jordan Peterson, who expressed concerns about “compelled speech.”
This trend has persisted ever since. Women’s concerns about the sexism and danger of gender identity ideology have been almost completely ignored by Canadian media and politicians, and the debate has been consistently framed as one of “good, progressive, open-minded people who care about the rights and safety of marginalized groups” vs “evil, religious right bigots who hate gays, lesbians, and trans-identified people.”
This has played out yet again in our attempts to challenge amendments to the “conversion therapy” bill proposed by the Liberals.
Last year, David Lametti, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, reintroduced proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, which would criminalize “conversation therapy,” commonly understood to be the practice of attempting to turn gay people straight. But the proposed amendments in Bill C-6 (which later became Bill C-4) conflated this homophobic practice with the practice of affirming “gender identity.” Lametti told the Canadian House of Commons that “conversion therapy refers to misguided efforts to change the sexual orientation of bisexual, gay, and lesbian individuals to heterosexual [or to] change a person’s gender identity to cisgender.”
By adding “gender identity” to the bill, the Liberals succeeded in conflating homosexuality with the postmodern notion that one can “feel” like the opposite sex, and that this feeling in fact means you literally are the opposite sex. The new legislation will criminalize those who profit from or advertise “conversion therapy,” including therapists and medical practitioners who do not practice the “affirmative model” — which means confirming an individual’s “trans identity” unquestioningly. Because adults do have the right to make their own choices about their bodies and whether they wish to undergo cosmetic surgery, what we are really talking about here are children and teens — individuals who are not equipped to understand the long-term consequences of medical transition on their bodies and lives, and are sent to therapists before proceeding to hormone blockers, hormone treatment, then surgery. Indeed, therapists should encourage these youth to wait it out, not to rush forward on a path to medical transition — this is the responsible thing to do. Instead, they are now obligated to take the opposite approach.
Yesterday, the Senate passed Bill C-4 with no objections, which means it will be essentially illegal in Canada to question or challenge a child’s declaration of transgender identity and their desire to socially and/or medically “transition” to the opposite sex.
This time around, feminist groups (and many other concerned individuals) did attempt to organize and speak against the bill, but were again ignored by the media, and clearly not taken seriously by politicians.
It is already difficult to question the legitimacy of gender identity ideology in Canada, and already practically impossible to access therapy that might allow a teen to grow out of their desire to transition, as so many do. This new legislation ensures it is now impossible to offer therapy that does not approach transition as the best path.
Moreover, the Liberal government is currently working to push through legislation criminalizing so-called “hate speech” online, which would surely include challenges to gender identity ideology and, for example, make it illegal to use correct pronouns to describe someone who prefers to use the pronouns traditionally reserved for the opposite sex.
Essentially, the Canadian government, considering itself ever-so-progressive, is criminalizing not only feminist speech, but free speech and critical thought as a whole. One will no longer be permitted to challenge government orthodoxy in Canada, and dissenters will not only be silenced, but punished under the law.
It is terrifying, and means an end to democracy and civil liberties in Canada.
The only solution is non-compliance — with all of it, though my solution has been to leave Canada, with the knowledge that I can no longer work and exist in my country without persecution. I will absolutely continue to speak and work for women’s rights and constitutional freedoms everywhere, including in Canada, but not based out of my home country. It is difficult for me to envision a free future when so few are standing up and fighting back, and when our political representatives refuse to respect and hear our concerns, voices, and rights. We the people are our only hope — and I hope we fail to comply.’
12 comments
December 18, 2021 at 8:47 am
tildeb
For what it’s worth, here’s my letter to my MP and impelling another donation to the Vancouver Women’s Rape Center:
“During the last election, you and I had a conversation (ed. reminder of where and when) where I raised my concern about legalizing gender identity and how this was playing out in undermining women at every step, from tilting the playing field in athletics to housing fully equipped males in women’s prisons to eliminating unisex safe spaces to de-funding rape centers. You seemed quite surprised when I said that I would still vote Liberal in the hope that someone like yourself would remember these real world and negative consequences raised as legitimate concerns when and if the issue ever arose in your work as parliamentarian. I asked you to raise these concerns with your colleagues should gender identity orthodoxy come into play in federal legislation.
With the unanimous passing of anti-conversion therapy Bill C-4 (what started off as Bill C-6 until amended at include gender identity) you have failed to do exactly this and have allowed transgender ideology to become the national orthodoxy. This hijacks our legal system. By attaching “gender identity” to this Bill and then voting in favour of it you have conflated same sex attraction with ‘feelings’ that one right now is the opposite sex, which may change next Tuesday. This Bill criminalizes anyone including medical professionals who do not practice ‘affirmation’ but might recommend a watch and wait approach for CHILDREN based on facts of how often a change in decision actually happens in real life as these children develop. Because of this gender identity amendment to this Bill, however, these same professionals are now obligated to confirm any trans identity unquestionably. This is the approved orthodoxy now imposed by you and your colleagues on the medical profession that has NOTHING to do with medicine and everything to do with transactivism.
This passing of the Bill has dire consequences.
Because adults already have the right to make choices about their bodies and the right to pursue cosmetic surgery, what you’ve done in fact is allow CHILDREN who are not equipped to appreciate the long term consequences of what medical transitioning means receive nothing but affirmation from the medical community who, under this law you have supported, are now obligated to prescribe binding, hormone blockers, facilitate hormone treatments, and enable surgeries based on feelings alone, manufactured or real. This compelled action on the social, educational, therapeutic, and medical professions guarantees a life of medical intervention for these kids and almost certainly sterility. This is what you’ve voted for with this amendment that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with protecting homosexuals from undergoing ‘therapy’ designed to magically turn them straight.
In effect, any child can now self prescribe pharmacological treatment if it involves impeding puberty or the sex-based developments that naturally occur. Any child can make their own life altering medical decisions now and this law enables them to do just that.
As a parent , I hope you understand just what this means for the safety and security of your own children should they suddenly decide to avoid the very real problems of normal prepubescent social, psychological, and physiological development by assuming transition is a way to bypass these problems. You will have no say in the matter. And if you do speak up…?
This is the other part of the law that is truly deplorable. To do anything other than affirm a child’s decision to transition makes you not only guilty of being subject to being cast as an evil right wing bigot who hates lesbians, gays, and trans-identified people but now a criminal guilty of hate speech, living under a Bill that makes it illegal to challenge, criticize, or refute this ideology with facts, with best practices, with honest and real and responsible concern. What this law does is promote an orthodoxy whereby regardless of facts, regardless of best practices, regardless of children’s welfare, any dissent by anyone is criminalized.
So my question to you is what are you going to do about this travesty and what can I do to help? None of us should be okay with intentionally and by law putting children in this position of vulnerability by criminalizing any and all responsible intervention including the parental role. We’ve have got to do better.
LikeLiked by 3 people
December 18, 2021 at 8:52 am
The Arbourist
@ Tildeb
Great letter. Similar in form to the ones I write to my MP.
I hope that more Canadian people take the time to discuss this with their elected representatives – so many though do not seem to be aware of what is going on under the hood of much of the legislation.
Perhaps when they are threatened with legal action for acting like proper parents, more will take to the cause.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 18, 2021 at 9:32 am
silverapplequeen
It’s amazing how they have conflated “trans” people with gays & lesbians, like they are all the same. THEY ARE NOT. It’s this kind of thinking that has got us to where we are today. I know plenty of gay men … they are men who love men. They don’t want to be women, they don’t *feel* like women. I know plenty of lesbians. They don’t want to be men, they don’t *feel * like men. As for us Bisexuals … we just want to love whoever we want to love when we want to love that person. It has NOTHING to do with trans-ideology. Trans-ideology has NOTHING to do with SEXUALITY.
Hetero people (I refuse to say cis-gendered) are not going to save us. For whatever reasons, they have chosen to conflate sexuality & gender … I am not sure why, but there must be power & money behind this movement. Big Pharma & the plastic surgery industry FOR SURE but who else? Who is driving this & who is making money off this ideology?
The only people who are going to save us are Gay men & Lesbian women … & the few Bisexuals who aren’t taken in by the trans-ideology … they are going to have to stand up & SHOUT that trans-ideology is the new gay conversion … that this is child abuse … that adding the “T” to the LGB acronym (& all the other stupid letters) has not made the alliance stronger … it’s weakened us & made us nothing but a T & Q alliance … Lesbians especially are forgotten. They are being erased. It is definitely a woman-hating movement.
I used to want to live in Canada. Living in Buffalo, NY, I spent half of my twenties in Canada & a good part of my thirties. I always said that I *felt* more like a Canadian than an American … whatever that means … since basing anything on your feelings is really STUPID. Feelings come & feelings go. & as someone who has a diagnosis for bipolar disorder & had been on meds for almost thirty years to manage this, I can attest that basing ANYTHING on your feelings is about as STUPID as you can be.
So …. trans-ideology is STUPID. But right now … it’s powerful. We have to find the source of this power & KILL IT.
LikeLiked by 2 people
December 18, 2021 at 9:55 am
The Arbourist
@silverapplequeen
Legislation can be amended. I’m hoping that once people understand exactly what is going on, they will demand that the laws in question are amended to better reflect the shared reality we all inhabit.
LikeLike
December 18, 2021 at 10:36 am
tildeb
I have tried to explain to gays and lesbians that supporting trans ideology is like thinking that having drivers at each of the bus and travelling in opposite directions is a good idea for everyone. Inherent sexual attraction is not the same thing as a 12 years old (more than likely on the autistic spectrum) deciding to become the opposite gender because of current ‘feelings’ of sexual developmental discomfort.
If one checks the registries of gay and lesbian organizations, one will see new membership has basically stopped cold. It is a no-brainer that those kids who are gay and lesbian can avoid dealing with all this and what it means by going along with the ideology of gender ‘dysphoria’ AND will have the means and now law in Canada to receive coaching by trans activists to implement this deception and make it work (the thinking I’ve repeatedly encountered is, “If I am attracted to the same sex, doesn’t that mean I’m in the wrong body and should be in the opposite sex body?”)
Trans activists by and large couldn’t care less about gays and lesbians; it’s all about enlarging the trans community and this is the population most susceptible.
LikeLike
December 18, 2021 at 10:38 am
tildeb
Evidence for this is very strong from those who have de-transitioned and they are well worth listening to.
LikeLike
December 18, 2021 at 5:58 pm
hbyd
For 32 years I voted NDP, until I clued in about the fallacy of gender. This year I held my nose and voted Conservative thinking they would take a stand and boy was I wrong. I was stunned when O’Toole threw us under the bus. I will also be writing to my MP though I doubt what good it will do as he’s a Liberal but staying silent is no longer an option. Scary times ahead.
LikeLike
December 21, 2021 at 10:10 am
The Arbourist
@ Hbyd
I’ve also been a NDP voter for decades and changed my vote this election.
The NDP support a position on gender that is rabidly anti-woman and anti-feminist.
It is very disconcerting.
LikeLike
December 21, 2021 at 10:17 am
The Arbourist
@ Tildeb
That seems to be one of the main features of the transrights activists movement. They latch on and assimilate other progressive groups and their agendas for their own purposes. The formation of the LGB Alliance in Canada is a direct counter to what has been happening. See also the BLM in the US, whether or not you agree with BLM methods, what they stood for then and what they do now is quite different once the TRA got through with them. On twitter, you almost always see the two going hand in hand along with being a marxist – which is some of the funniest shit ever, given that marxist analysis is empirically based…
LikeLike
December 21, 2021 at 10:42 am
The Arbourist
@ Silverapplequeen
One of the main differences seems to be that one set of views (LGB) is based on sexual attraction. The other (T) is based on gender attraction, which is completely different and to be honest, quite toxic.
LikeLike
March 8, 2022 at 2:36 pm
lovetruthcourage
I am glad that in America the First Amendment makes legislation like C-16 blatantly illegal. Free speech and free thought are fundamental to free societies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 8, 2022 at 2:43 pm
tildeb
Yes, they are. Fundamental.
Now, can you get the Woke to recognize these facts? Or even care about them (when the risk of ‘offending’ others is of such colossal importance)?
I doubt it…. until these rights are no more.
LikeLike