By: Eden Chipperfield, News Writer
Content warning: mentions of transphobia and suicide.
February 1 became a significant day for Albertan families with trans and gender diverse children. Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith announced new policies that will “restrict healthcare options,” forbid students to change preferred names, and restrict gender identity expression at schools without parents’ or guardians’ consent.
The health restrictions for trans and non-binary youth will ban top and bottom surgeries for those under 17 and limit hormone therapy and puberty blockers for those under 15. In addition to banning name and pronoun changes at school, other restrictions include not allowing trans women to compete in “women’s sports leagues” across the province. Moreover, parents will be given the option to have their children “opt out” of class discussions in school about 2SLGBTQIA+ people, gender expression, and sexuality. These topics will now require parents and guardians to be notified.
Following the press release at the beginning of February, outrage has spread rapidly across the country, from doctors, activist groups, and members and allies of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Over 40 groups within Alberta, including Calgary Pride, Queer Youth Guardians, and the See Change Collective, have signed a statement regarding the policy changes. “As citizens of Alberta, we condemn the recent proposals by Premier Danielle Smith seeking to limit transgender healthcare and participation in society,” wrote Queer Citizens United on X following the press conference.
Dr. Hannah Clark is an assistant professor of psychology at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. She has a PhD in interdisciplinary studies from the University of British Columbia with a dissertation on healthcare for trans youth. Clark was a featured speaker at the Trans Care BC Clinic Speaker Series in 2021.
“These policies are incredibly damaging to trans and gender diverse youth,” said Clark. “Although the narrative around these policies is that they will protect children from risks to their futures, what we know from an overwhelming body of research is that restricting gender-affirming care for trans and gender diverse youth poses a much, much greater threat to their well being than allowing youth to receive the care they need.”
A common misconception regarding healthcare for trans people is that puberty blockers and hormone therapy will cause “irreversible damage.” However, Clark rejected this notion, saying, “Puberty blockers work by delaying the onset of puberty so that trans and gender diverse youth have more time to make decisions about when and how to start other gender-affirming therapies (like hormone therapy and/or top or bottom surgery).” Clark noted that since the majority of youth go through puberty before age 16, the ban on puberty blockers is the government making “irreversible decisions for trans and gender diverse youth and their families.”
Regarding the concern about name and pronoun changes in school, Clark believes needing parental permission for these identities “will force kids back in the closet.” Clark expressed concern that youth being forcibly outed to family members who may reject their identity “causes significant psychological distress,” creating a rise in houselessness, suicide, and depression. “The teenage years are a critical developmental stage when we learn who we are by ‘trying on’ different identities and finding what feels right. This is true for all of us regardless of where we fall on the gender spectrum,” said Clark.
The new policies are to be enacted in fall 2024, but there is a wall of support ready to fight back against the decisions.
Bennet Jenson, Egale Canada’s legal director, stated, “The organization will be ready to fight the Alberta policies in court once they are official.” Jenson further explained that blocking youth from changing their name and pronouns “violates students’ rights to be free from cruel and unusual treatment from the state and their right to equality.” In an interview with CBC News, Jenson declared Alberta’s policies as “the most blatant regression of legal protections for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in our country’s history.”
Another policy listed in the legislation is that teenagers between 16–17 who would like to begin gender-affirming transitions, including hormone therapy, must be “deemed mature enough” by a psychologist, physician, and parent. Clark raised concern with this because these “policies are incredibly stigmatizing and perpetuate the dangerous, transphobic narrative that being transgender or gender diverse is pathological.”
Corrine Mason and Leah Hamilton, in an article for The Tyee, wrote: “These policies are clearly meant to satisfy Smith’s electoral base, but her government is now going to have to go head-to-head with the experts — and the evidence — in future legal battles.”
