Canadian province goes after trans kids
Alberta is passing the gamut of Republican anti-LGBT policies after Premier hosts Tucker Carlson
Canada: Alberta’s far-right premier Danielle Smith (pictured above with disgraced far-right blowhards Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson) announced a long-expected “parents’ rights” policy that will require parental notification and consent if a student wants to use a different name or pronoun in school and a host of other anti-LGBT policies. The policy copies similar controversial (and likely unconstitutional) policies introduced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick last year. The conservative governments of Quebec and Ontario also announced similar policies would be coming last year, but they have not formally introduced them, as far as I can tell.
I’ve written before about why these policies are bullshit fearmongering that have no basis in the real experience of kids in school today. Whether they’re actually popular is open for debate – Manitoba’s conservatives lost an election after campaigning in part on the issue last year, while New Brunswick voters will get to weigh in this year.
But this policy goes even further: medical treatment is restricted for trans children 15 and under, and classroom discussion on LGBT topics now requires parental notification and opt-in; the province is going to restrict trans girls from competing in school sports; and third-party resources on gender, sexuality and sexual orientation (whatever that may mean) now need to be approved by the ministry of education before they can be used in class. This is the most restrictive anti-LGBT policy in Canada by far.
India: Jharkhand state has announced plans to set up an LGBTQ Welfare Board – it’s not quite clear from this article what it will entail, although it sounds like general advocacy and aid in accessing government services.
Greece: Parliament begins debate on the same-sex marriage bill today. A vote is expected on or before Feb 12.
France: The National Assembly approved putting the right to abortion in the constitution; it’s now up to the Senate to approve. The right is not under serious threat in France, but right-wing voices have been growing there for decades.
Northern Ireland: After two years, the Northern Ireland executive and legislature look set to return to functioning, after the DUP reached an agreement to end its boycott. With a government back in place, it’s possible the executive will finally act on passing a conversion therapy ban that was overwhelmingly supported by the last legislature in April 2021.
Hungary: Radio Free Europe reports on a growing backlash against the government’s stringent anti-gay laws, in a country that remembers communist-era repressions on speech and the press.
Meanwhile, in the States…
Republican US Senator Lindsay Graham told Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that he has “blood on his hands” during a congressional hearing yesterday, which is only interesting to me because those are the exact words that Montana Republicans said were beyond the pale for trans state Rep. Zooey Zephyr to use in the legislature, for which they barred her from attending meetings last year.
Tennessee: State Republicans have advanced bills to ban Pride flags in schools and to expand the list of people who are eligible to file complaints about books in schools. Both bills have been subject to increased scrutiny over a potential conflict of interest with their sponsor and may not make it through the session.
North Carolina: An LGBTQ advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the “parents’ bill of rights” which prohibits discussion of LGBT issues in classrooms, bans trans kids from playing school sports, and forcibly outs trans students to their parents.
Oregon: The legislative session begins next week, and Republicans will be welcoming a new bigot to their caucus. They also plan to introduce a trans bathroom ban bill, but it doesn’t stand a chance of passing. Democrats will try to reintroduce a resolution to hold a referendum on repealing the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, which Republicans managed to block last year by denying quorum. Dems will have 35 days to pass it before the session ends.