Two Canadian LGBTQ advocacy groups have launched a legal challenge, being processed in court Monday, which seeks to overturn a provincial law they say violates the rights of transgender minors.
The case targets legislation passed by the right-wing provincial government in Alberta that sets new restrictions on the care health professionals can provide minors who identify as transgender.
Alberta’s Bill 26, which became law last week, bans sex reassignment surgery on minors and bars the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies “for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence,” for anyone 15 and under.
Children who had already begun such treatment were exempted from the provisions.
Advocacy groups Egale Canada and Skipping Stones, as well as several Alberta families who jointly launched the challenge, condemned Alberta’s actions as “unprecedented.”
“No government in Canada has ever enacted legislation prohibiting essential and life-saving gender affirming health care,” they said in a statement.
“The Government of Alberta has deliberately disregarded expert guidance and evidence, as well as the voices of Albertan families, and introduced policies that use fear and disinformation to target a small and vulnerable part of the community,” it added.
A spokesperson for Alberta’s justice ministry, Chinenye Anokwuru, told AFP on Monday the “government carefully considers the rights of Albertans when drafting legislation, and we believe this legislation strikes an appropriate balance.”
Anokwuru declined further comment as the dispute is in court.
When the legislation was introduced in October, Alberta described it as an effort, “to support minors who identify as transgender so they can make informed, potentially life-altering decisions as adults.”
Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith, who has made disputes surrounding transgender policies a focus of her political campaigns, said she was trying to support “the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”
In February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Smith’s platform as “anti-LGBT.”
Trudeau’s comment came days after Smith hosted former Fox News personality and right-wing journalist Tucker Carlson at an event in Alberta, along with prominent Canadian academic Canadian Jordan Peterson, who has made a series of controversial statements on transgender rights.
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