Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany slammed parents and provincial governments for “overreaching” when it came to children exploring their “gender identity.”The Regina-born performer’s comments this week are in response to Saskatchewan's Parents Bill of Rights, which would require teachers to get parental consent if their child (under the age of 16) wants to change their name or go by different pronouns at school. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith earlier this year introduced similar legislation. The policy, introduced last August, was challenged by Pride advocacy groups claiming the policy violated the rights of kids. Premier Scott Moe’s government added the policy to provincial law and invoked the notwithstanding clause to prevent attempts to pull it down. Speaking to reporters Wednesday at an event in Regina at the Hotel Saskatchewan where she was being inducted into Canada’s Hall of Fame for her acting work, Maslany discussed the province’s new bill. “It should not be in the control of the parents how a child identifies, how a child knows themself to be,” decried Maslany. “That isn’t a parent’s place…it’s (the child’s) right. It’s not their parents’ right. It’s an overreach.” “It’s an overreach of the provincial government to legislate that. It’s absurd. Children have rights. Children are human beings, who have knowledge.”“We should be taking our cues from them.” Maslany has appeared in such films and television shows as Orphan Black, She Hulk: Attorney at Law and Power Trip. .As a Hall of Fame inductee, Maslany was given $10,000 to donate to any charity she wanted. She chose the John Howard Society’s Lulu’s Lodge, a half-way house for homeless gay and transgender youth. Lulu’s Lodge Director of Operations Tanya Young laments “we are still living in a world where drag queens are deemed as predatory and can't read stories to children.”“Protesters are present at pride parades. Parents are disowning their children because of sexual orientation,” she said, per CTV. “Trans-people are victims of severe violence and schools won't allow children to use the preferred names and pronouns without parental consent. Homophobia and transphobia are key drivers in youth homelessness.”
