The Williams Lake Pride Society (WLPS) and its supporters will march through the city on Saturday, Oct. 18, to advocate for trans rights.
The day of action was planned in response to a bill put forward in B.C. Legislature on Oct. 8 called the Protecting Minors from Gender Transition Act (Bill M216), which Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson voted to consider for debate.
"It was a blindside," said Billie Sheridan, the WLPS' public relations officer and organizer of the march. She is a trans woman and said the 2SLGBTQAI+ community feels Doerkson has turned his back on them after years of showing his support.
The Oct. 8 vote was on a motion to have Bill M216 introduced for first reading. If the motion passed, the bill would then be debated at a later date and would still have at least five steps to go through before becoming law or being defeated, with opportunities to make amendments.
"What's actually extraordinary about this one is that it didn't (pass)," Doerkson said, noting that he recalls very few moments in his five years as MLA when a motion to introduce a bill was defeated. The Legislative Assembly's fifth edition of Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia reads that it's rare for a motion at this stage to face division and be defeated.
Doerkson emphasized that voting in favour of the motion did not indicate his support for the bill but was rather part of standard legislative procedure.
"It's what we do, we're legislators," Doerkson said, adding that MLAs have very little information about bills when they are brought forward for first reading.
"At the time of first reading, we don't get the bill, so you really vote to hear the bill, to see it," Doerkson said.
Sheridan, for her part, said she doesn't believe Doerkson's reasoning for voting in favour of the motion.
"If you know the justification of the bill, you don't need to read it," she said, noting that the motion was preceded by a description of its purpose.
The motion on Bill M216 was brought forward by Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong, house leader for the new OneBC party formed after MLA Dallas Brodie left the BC Conservative Caucus in March.
"British Columbia is sleepwalking through the greatest medical scandal in modern history, and it’s our kids who are at risk," said Armstrong as she introduced the motion. In her introduction of Bill M216, Armstrong made claims that Sheridan said are typical misinformation points often found online.
Armstrong claimed doctors are causing irreversible harm to children with puberty blockers and hormones, which are forms of gender-affirming care. Accessing puberty blockers and hormones requires a readiness assessment done according to WPATH Standards of Care. Puberty is non-reversible, while puberty suppression is, so the use of puberty blockers allows young people the time to think about their options while avoiding the distress which may come with developing characteristics which don't align with their gender identity.
Armstrong also claimed doctors and gender clinics were causing irreversible harm to children through surgeries.
According to Emergency Care BC, about half of trans people undergo medical transition through hormones or puberty blockers, while for a smaller proportion of trans people, surgical transition is part of the process.
If any kind of medical treatment is approved for youth, it is usually through puberty blockers or hormone therapy. In some cases, youth may have access to top surgery, but lower surgeries can only be accessed by people above the age of majority, which is 19 in B.C. Gender-affirming upper surgery, such as chest reduction and construction, can be accessed by some youth, but the already rigorous process to accessing gender-affirming surgery is even more so for minors.
While not everyone chooses this route, surgery can help some people feel more comfortable in their bodies. Trans Care BC provides step-by-step guides and considerations for people thinking about undergoing gender-affirming surgery. This requires a referral from a primary care provider who will take patients through a surgical readiness assessment, which can last between one and two hours. Assessments must be conducted by care providers who meet the qualifications and competencies of the WPATH Standards of Care, which also outlines criteria for receiving gender-affirming surgery, including the diagnosis of gender incongruence, which is well-documented and persistent. Once a surgeon with Gender Surgery Program B.C. receives a referral, wait times for just the first intake appointment can be 12 to 16 months. Consent must be obtained for anyone accessing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery. Potential effects on reproduction, as well as available options to preserve fertility, are discussed.
Sheridan said that when misinformation about trans lives and access to care is shared, especially by politicians, it causes greater harm as members of the public believe it.
"Trans people receive negative feedback online and even locally, we have people in the community that clap back at the trans and queer communities," Sheridan said. "Unfortunately, this is not happening just in Williams Lake; this is happening all over the world, the world is turning against the trans community."
Prior to Armstrong's motion to introduce Bill M216, Brodie posted a summary of the bill on X, which included banning the use of public funds for gender transitions. Gender-affirming care is funded by MSP when it is deemed medically necessary.
"We would basically not get any trans healthcare," Sheridan said about if the bill had seen the light of day. While Armstrong's motion was defeated, Sheridan fears this will not be the last time the trans community in B.C. faces the potential of losing access to gender-affirming care.
"We need to share that we're there to stop it before it gets any worse," Sheridan said.
In a statement sent to the Tribune, Saturn Zezza, founder and treasurer of the 100 Mile Pride Society, which will also be taking part in Saturday's march, said the bill endangers the safety and dignity of transgender youth and undermines the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ people across the province.
"Supporting legislation rooted in misinformation and discrimination is not allyship, it's active participation in harm," Zezza said. "We call on Mr. Doerkson to remember the promises he made to the people of the Cariboo and to publicly denounce this harmful legislation. The existence of trans youth and the importance of trans people having access to health care is not up for debate."
"I really do think that this needs to be debated publicly and transparently," Doerkson said, adding he similarly voted in favour of numerous other motions introducing bills such as the Intimate Images Protection Statutes Amendment Act introduced on Oct. 6.
The Day of Action for Transgender Visibility will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the RBC parking lot at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Broland Street. Sheridan said to bring signs and a friend, and to dress for the weather.
Children needing support can turn to the local Foundry branch, and the Canadian Mental Health Association can support adults. Other supports can be found through Qmunity, and a list of peer support groups can be found on Trans Care BC's website.
With files from Vikki Hopes.
