Liberal Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien said she has deep concerns about the Alberta government tabling its three gender identity bills. While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she wants to support and uplift transgender children, Ien said these bills do the opposite. She called focusing in on the most vulnerable groups in society “beyond disappointing.” “Your government continues to validate anti-trans, anti-(sexual minority), and homophobic rhetoric,” said Ien in a letter to Smith. “The legislation presented this week will diminish the rights of trans and gender diverse kids and have serious impacts on the mental and physical health of youth in Alberta.”.She noted this is not a question of parental rights and is undermining them by taking sensitive, important decisions away from families. Instead, she said governments should be centering the rights and voices of children and none of this legislation will do that. From the beginning, she has said this legislation is life-threatening for young people based on community feedback and expert studies. The Canadian Pediatric Society stated the Alberta legislation will lead to increased risk of suicide and self-harm and that gender transitions in minors should be decisions between them, their parents, and their medical care teams. A study conducted by the Trevor Project in the United States found suicide attempts increased between 7% to 72% for transgender and non-binary young people living in states with similar laws. She predicted barriers to access, negative social experiences, and lack of education contributing to these statistics will be worsened by this proposed legislation. She said the Canadian government has heard access to gender transitions and provision of comprehensive, evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education result in lower rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide and better physical and mental health for all young people. Experts in healthcare, pediatrics, and psychology have told it this, saying it needs to listen. She said the transgender and queer children who woke up this morning feeling unsafe and the communities seeing their rights slip away should know the Canadian government has their backs. Additionally, she pointed out they matter. Ien concluded by urging Smith “to revoke this legislation and consider the deep harm it will cause the (sexual minority) community in your province.” “I am urgently requesting a meeting with you to discuss this further,” she said. Smith responded by saying she has not read Ien’s letter. “I know that she has sent it, and I will look it over and I’ll respond to her,” she said. “But we know what we’re doing is to protect kids.” While the Alberta government will be restricting gender transitions in minors, she said is about protecting children’s choices as adults on changes to their bodies affecting their reproductive abilities. She posited gender transitions are an adult decision, and the Alberta government is giving children the time to grow up and wait before doing them. The three bills the Alberta government vowed to introduce about gender identity came out on Thursday..UPDATED: Alberta government introduces three bills with gender identity policies .The Alberta government tabled a bill to restrict gender transitions in minors to what it says will preserve choices for them. Since the Alberta government wants to build a healthcare system responding to the changing needs of Albertans, it said the amendments introduced in the Health Statutes Amendment Act reflect this.
