RANT: WHEN MEN WERE MEN AND WOMEN TOO

 

   U.S. Trans-woman  Lia Thomas. Women's university swim meet 2022

STOP THE PRESSES! This week, the highest court in Britain has made a ruling that will profoundly influence how we see ourselves as a species and how we understand what it is to be human. Not since perhaps Darwin’s theory of evolution has there been such a turning away from the hard-won wisdoms of our age. On 16 April, this year, five Supreme Court judges unanimously issued

 

“…a historic and definitive ruling that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer only to a biological woman and to biological sex.

In a decision that delighted gender-critical activists, five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs).

The judgment could have far-reaching ramifications and lead to greater restrictions on the access for trans-women to services and spaces reserved for women. It prompted calls for the UK’s laws on gender recognition to be rewritten.” (Reuters)

 

THIS WEEK’S RULING by the British Supreme Court came about when an advocacy group of “trans-critical” women in Scotland, “For Women Scotland” (FWS)* brought a motion in 2018 before the courts against guidance issued by the Scottish government, which was then involved in an effort to hire more women for public boards. The guidance said that trans-women with a “gender recognition certificate” were legally women and eligible to be put on the hiring roster. FWS challenged the ruling claiming that trans-women were not, in fact, women, and therefore ineligible to be included in the government’s equality hires. The FWS campaigners lost their case in the Scottish courts  but they appealed to the British Supreme Court and won.

 

In Britain, this ruling will have major repercussions when it comes to women’s sports, the armed services, hospitals and health care, women’s shelters, women’s prisons, women-only charities, changing rooms, washrooms and women’s spaces in general, now that trans-women are no longer legally “women”.

 

ACROSS the pond, in Canada, we still uphold the rights of trans-women to self-identify and have access to all the above spaces once considered for women only. The Canadian Human Rights Act “...prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression”, while provincial and territorial legislatures have enacted their own anti-discrimination laws. In 2017, Bill C-16 made amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to include "gender identity or expression as a prohibited ground of discrimination and in hate propaganda and sentencing.” The law recognizes the right of individuals to self-identify their gender, and that "misgendering" can be considered a form of discrimination. 😭

WHO KNOWS in the long run how the recent changes to Canada's Criminal Code will impact “transphobes” who, for example,  raise concerns about schools withholding information from parents of students under sixteen years of age who "socially transition" at school, adopt neutral or opposite sex pronouns and names, and gather information from guidance counselors and medical staff on hormone therapy, safe breast-binding, puberty blockers and surgeries that might become available to them on their transitioning journey.  

 

“Mature teens, aged 16 and 17, may choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes without the need for parental approval, but still the approval from a physician and psychological professional.” (Aristotle)

 

👉The 2024 Aurora, Ontario story of 10-year-old “Julie” who, unbeknownst to zirs parents,  adopted a “non-binary” persona at school before socially transitioning to a boy, is instructive. OF COURSE, ZIRS PARENTS WERE NOT NOTIFIED of Julie’s transition, allowing professional teaching staff to provide the pre-teen with counseling around their choice of pronouns, the use of male facilities, etc., and while many of their peers applauded them for coming out in such a demonstrable way, Julie would, over the course of grade six, de-transition back to a girl. Had it not been for the intervention of  their parents, “Julie” would be well on the way to their gender(s) of choice.

 

 From sad-sack...

To be sure, Julie’s story is a disappointment for advocates of trans-children’s rights. But the reader may take heart to know that transphobia still has no place in Canada, and that robust Hate Crime laws are now in place to protect the rights of transitioning persons, young and old alike.

 

    ...to melon-sack. "Kayla Lemieux"+

The Supreme Court ruling in Britain is a step back to the ‘Middle Ages’ when men were men and women were women. Period. Let’s hope the trans-advocacy court cases that will test the British High Court ruling in the near future will use the example of Canada's progressive trans-protections and our acceptance of "gender fluidity"  when crafting their legal briefs. Men are men, and women too! Canada, the True North Strong and Free!😬

 Cheers, Jake._________________________________

* The group is funded by children's author and transphobe, J.K. Rowling.

 

+ "Kayla" was a very brave wood shop teacher at an Oakville, Ontario high school who came 'busting out' all over in the spring of 2023! He She taught classes with special attention to safety, particularly around around buzz saws and drill presses. The student loved her. What's not to like? However, by 2024 she no longer taught and was transferred to another department at the school board. "Ma chère, tu vas beaucoup nous manquer!"