Discussions on rights, including on orientation, identity, and employment (eg. sex work).
The public’s support for same-sex marriage in Canada, according to a 2024 Ipsos poll, is at 65%. This is down from 75% three years earlier. Twenty years ago, marriage was the proxy issue for whether gay people had a place in society.
Today, trans people are in the crosshairs and the proxy issues include access to puberty blockers and athletics. In the UK, add to that washroom access. In the US, well, everything.
(more…)Bill C-273, the latest effort to outlaw physical abuse of children, has died following prorogation. It had been progressing since 2021, waiting for third reading. The full text of the bill:
(more…)BILL C-273
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Corinne’s Quest and the protection of children)
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.S., c. C-46
Criminal Code
1. Section 43 of the Criminal Code is repealed.
Coming into Force
2. This Act comes into force on the 30th day after the day on which it receives royal assent.
In the 2024 American election, Republicans spent nearly $215 million dollars on ads fear mongering about the presence of trans people in society. It was their wedge issue of choice, along with manufacturing a panic around immigrants (Trump: “they’re eating the dogs… they’re eating the cats… they are eating the pets of [Springfield, Ohio].”)
Republicans won.
In Trump’s first two weeks, the White House pardoned the Trump-backed attackers of the capitol in a violent failed coup, abolished the Department of Education, imposed sanctions on the staff of the International Criminal Court, pushed to annex Canada and Greenland, among a flurry of other authoritarian moves. In the midst of it all were six executive orders to purge trans people from American society.
With the party having eliminated dissenting members, including through death threats, Republicans in the legislative and judicial branches made Trump a sovereign; no longer a check and balance, they are reduced to conduits for his whims.
Trump, the serial rapist and convicted felon supported by “pro-family” and “tough on crime” Republicans, finally became a strongman like those he has openly coveted: Hitler, Kim Jong-Un, and Putin.
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They deny proven geoscience techniques, but only when applied to paleoclimatology because it shows climate change exists. They don’t question that same science when it finds the oil with which to fuel their cars or the metals to manufacture their phone.
They oppose puberty blockers, but only for trans youth. They didn’t even know cisgender minors receive identical medicine, but now that they do, they’re okay with cis kids getting it. Not trans kids though.
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Ipsos released the results of a poll that queried Canadians on their attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities. Overall, Canadians are less accepting compared to 2021. This drop was mirrored in Angus Reid polling data about Canadian attitudes to trans people as well.
Given the success of the moral panic conservatives have manufactured around the visibility of gender non-conformity, the numbers are disappointing but unsurprising. The data didn’t look at political affiliations, but I suspect that the drop is disproportionately from those who consume right-wing media.
LGBT people being open about their sexual orientation or gender identity
49% of Canadians are okay with LGBT people being out of the closet, a 12% drop from 2021
Do you have a relative, friend or work colleague who is lesbian/gay/homosexual
52% of Canadians said yes, an 8% drop since 2021
Do you have a relative, friend or work colleague who is transgender
18% of Canadians said yes, the same number as in 2021
Do you have a relative, friend or work colleague who is non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender-fluid
18% of Canadians said yes, a 2% increase from 2021
Are you any of: lesbian, gay, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, asexual, transgender, non-binary, gender non-
conforming, gender-fluid, other than male or female
13% of Canadians said yes
Have you ever attended the wedding of a same-sex couple
13% of Canadians said yes, the same as in 2021
Have you ever attended a public event in support of LGBT people (e.g., a Pride march)
18% of Canadians said yes, the same as in 2021
Have you ever visited a bar or a night-club that caters primarily to LGBT people
24% of Canadians said yes, the same as in 2021
LGBT people displaying affection in public (e.g., kissing or holding hands)
40% of Canadians are okay with it, an 8% drop from 2021
Laws banning discrimination against LGBT people when it comes to employment, access to education, housing and social services, etc.
54% of Canadians are in support, a 9% drop from 2021
Lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes in sports teams
50% Canadians are in support, an 11% drop from 2021
Transgender athletes competing based on the gender they identify with rather the sex they were assigned at birth
21% of Canadians are in support, a 12% drop from 2021
More LGBT characters on TV, in films and in advertising
34% Canadians are in support, a 10% drop from 2021
Same-sex marriage or legal recognition
75% of Canadians support the right to marry / oppose a right to marry but support some kind of legal recognition, a 7% drop from 2021
Same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do
70% of Canadians agree, an 11% drop from 2021
Same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children
71% of Canadians agree, a 13% drop from 2021
Transgender people should be allowed to use single-sex facilities (e.g., public restrooms) that correspond to the gender they identify with
45% of Canadians agree, a 6% drop since 2023
Health insurance systems should cover the costs of gender transition no differently than the costs of other medical procedures
36% of Canadians agree, a 4% drop since 2023
With parental consent, transgender teenagers should be allowed to receive gender-affirming care (e.g., counselling and hormone replacement treatment)
48% of Canadians agree, a 10% drop since 2023
Government-issued documents such as passports should include an option other than “male” and “female” for people who do not identify as either
40% of Canadians agree, a 9% drop since 2023