LETTER

Trial for trans rights against the government  

The trial for trans rights and non-binary people has started at the Superior Court, in presence of lawyers, the Attorney General of Quebec, the judge, and members of the trans and non-binary community.

The lawsuit was filed by the Centre for Gender Advocacy at the Superior Court in 2014. It seeks to invalidate articles 59, 62, 71, 93, 111, 115, 116, 124, 126, 132 and 146 from the Quebec Civil Code, arguing that they violate the principles and rights to integrity, safety, life, freedom, dignity and privacy guaranteed by the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

During the first day of the trial, the Attorney General of Quebec made an announcement on behalf of the Directeur de l’État Civil du Quebec. The Directeur states that they are willing to introduce operational measures in accommodation of trans and non-binary people. These measures include the removal of the obligation to have a sex designation on the birth certificate, among others.

The Centre for Gender Advocacy believes that these measures are insufficient.  We demand substantial legislative changes to the Civil Code, and not administrative changes at the Directeur de l’État Civil. We want laws that recognize the existence of people, and not half-measures that are unreliable and unbinding.’

The trial continues until March 1st, 2019.

Dalia Tourki, 

The Centre for Gender Advocacy

Montreal