Transgender Day of Remembrance took on an additional meaning on Thursday in Calgary.
In light of the governing UCP’s use of the notwithstanding clause to shield legislation limiting gender-affirming care and services to trans youth from legal challenges, queer activists and allies showed up in large numbers at McDougall Centre in downtown Calgary.
Hundreds of people showed up to support the community and express opposition to what they see as policies discriminating against trans youth.
Many participated in a letter-writing blitz organized by the local trans advocacy organization Skipping Stone.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Since its start in 1999, the Transgender Day of Remembrance has honoured the memories of individuals who have lost their lives as a result of transphobic violence.
It’s a significant day of commemoration, increasing awareness of the vulnerability of transgender rights.
Autumn Cassidy is a volunteer for Skipping Stone, a Calgary-based organization that supports transgender individuals as they navigate life in a society that still imposes barriers to their personal fulfillment.
For the past couple of years, Cassidy has spent the time around Transgender Day of Remembrance participating in memorials and taking the day to mourn the loss of her community members privately.
This year, she stepped into her new role as a group facilitator for Skipping Stone by participating in their Write-a-Thon to encourage elected officials to take a stand against the new legislation.
Cassidy was at the McDougall Centre last Thursday.
“I saw this opportunity to be here today, and I was like, ‘this seems a little more productive than just being at home and just feeling sad,’” Cassidy said.
The write-a-thon
The Write-a-Thon encouraged people to write letters to government officials such as MPs, MLAs and party leaders.
Attendees were encouraged to express their opposition to the governing United Conservative Party and Premier Danielle Smith’s use of the notwithstanding clause, which they invoked this week to protect legislation impacting the ability of trans youth access to gender-affirming health care and the use of their preferred pronouns at school.
Victoria Bucholtz, the organization’s director of learning and engagement, said Write-a-Thons are important for people to exercise their democratic rights and remember that they can be politically active.
“You’re either doing politics, or politics are being done to you,” said Bucholtz. “And as a queer person, politics are being done to us.”
Bucholtz said it’s essential for everyone — not just those affected by anti-trans legislation — to recognize that their rights are “negotiable,” and if the rights of transgender individuals can be infringed upon, so can the rights of everyone else.
Additionally, Bucholtz highlighted the benefits of writing letters to government officials, including documenting public opposition to specific policies.
During the event, she advised adding the official opposition New Democratic Party in CC when emailing government officials to ensure that messages won’t be deleted.
The NDP can also use the correspondence to raise questions during Question Period to demand answers from the government, she said.
“You’ve got to put the effort in. You’ve got to write that letter,” Bucholtz said. “You’ve got to voice what’s going on with you and why you’re against what you’re against.”
Bill 9 and the notwithstanding clause
Earlier this week, the UCP tabled the Protecting Alberta’s Children Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 9) using the notwithstanding clause to shield previously passed legislation from a constitutional challenge.
This marked the second time the UCP invoked the notwithstanding clause in the past three weeks. The first was used in back-to-work legislation to compel striking teachers to return to work.
Bill 9 prevents constitutional challenges on three laws introduced in 2024 — Bills 26, 27 and 29, which ban youth under 16 from accessing gender-affirming treatments, prohibits gender surgery for minors, limits school staff ability to use the student’s chosen name and pronouns, and forces youth to participate in sports based on their assigned sex at birth, effectively banning trans youth from enrollment in sports teams.
For her part, Premier Danielle Smith pushed back this week in the legislature against accusations that the UCP is stepping on Charter rights by using the notwithstanding clause, insisting it’s “about protecting children and making sure that medical experiments are not conducted on them, because we do not have good data.”
One of Smith’s MLAs also landed in hot water this week for saying the province has a duty to step in to deal with “bad parents” while comparing transgender surgery to the castration of livestock during a debate in the legislative assembly.
The UCP’s laws affecting transgender youth were being challenged in court, but the use of the notwithstanding clause could end those court cases.
Bucholtz is afraid of what this means for transgender youth in Alberta, where rates of suicidality have already been rising among transgender youth who feel helpless and targeted by the sitting government.
“We’ve lost community members already because of this,” Bucholtz said. “For young people that don’t see a way forward for them in their province.”
Cassidy said she especially opposes the Smith administration’s failure to respect children’s agency and autonomy.
Research shows gender identity is formed in children around two or three years old, she said, and the UCP’s rhetoric, specifically surrounding the management of the developmental effects of puberty, is flawed.
Cassidy is concerned that the government’s heavy-handed pieces of legislation, which interfere with medical consensus on how to handle trans care youth — a view supported by the Alberta Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association—perpetuates harmful stereotypes about transgender people in general.
“‘Oh, you’re groomers, you’re predators,’ you know, ‘you’re harming children,’” Cassidy said, referring to popular language brandied against trans people. “And that quickly becomes toxic, as we’ve seen with Bills 26, 27 and 29 brought forth under the idea that they need to ‘protect children.’”
Bucholtz agreed that ignorance towards transgender issues is a key factor at play.
Hope
Despite this week’s events, not all hope is lost for transgender youth in Alberta.
The rally at McDougall saw hundreds of Calgarians come out in support of the community.
And according to Bucholtz, Skipping Stone is already seeing an increase in donations from people all over Alberta who disagree with the UCP’s approach to trans care.
Notably, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas joined Skipping Stone on Thursday to formally recognize the Transgender Day of Remembrance in the city.