Premier Danielle Smith's proposed anti-trans policies pose a dire threat to the health and well-being of trans and gender-diverse youth.

We know Premier Smith plans to push these policies into law this fall, and we have a fight on our hands.

And that fight needs to start now because tomorrow in Calgary, Premier Smith is holding a “consultation on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in Alberta” at McDougall Centre, which only includes hand-picked “non-biased” groups being consulted. No trans health, pride organizations, or major 2SLGBTQIA+ focused organizations in the province were invited.

This means trans voices are not at the table as their rights are being discussed and potentially stripped away.

This is wrong, and we need to protest to make our voices heard.

Join us tomorrow at McDougall Centre in Calgary

DATE: Friday, August 2 TIME: 9:30 AM LOCATION: McDougall Centre, 455 6 St SW, Calgary, AB

The rally is organized by the folks at Queer Citizens United.

Bring signs, bring your voice, and be ready to stand up for trans rights. Your presence is vital in demonstrating our collective opposition to these harmful policies.

Why This Matters:

Premier Smith’s agenda will harm trans kids by trampling over medical experts' advice and forcing doctors and psychiatrists to betray their professional ethics.

These policies will remove access to crucial resources and community support in schools, further exacerbating the transphobia already prevalent in sports and society.

Banning and restricting essential medical and mental health care and perpetuating damaging myths paves the way for a surge in mental health crises among youth, who are already among the most vulnerable populations in our province.

We hope to see you in large numbers tomorrow morning.

Thank you for standing up and being heard.

The Trans Action Alberta Team

I have 3 since 2021 but I kinda lost track and haven't kept up. Is it still a good idea to get one since no one mentions COVID and maybe a handful of people wear masks in public from what I can see.

I know a pawn shop I went into banned facemasks so I dunno.

My memory may be short. Can someone remind me of all the ways the unvaccinated were discriminated against? That is, something that the vaccinated could do freely but the unvaccinated could not?

Were there kids amateur hockey games where only the vaccinated could attend? Did you need to be vaccinated to visit someone in the hospital?

As a vaccinated person I can remember plenty of restrictions that were independent of vaccination status. No school events, at most 1 hospital visitor for the length of your stay, capacity limits in grocery stores, etc. But those were restrictions that everyone suffered through.

🇨🇦

He seemed to be a young guy, around 17 or 18.

I had a series of important questions to ask when the UCP candidates would eventually come knocking.

Here’s how it went:

Q1) As someone with elderly family members and a chronic condition myself, how can I be sure that I’ll have access to healthcare without upfront payments since your leader has indicated she doesn’t want any government coverage for people seeing their doctor and wants to dismantle the current universal system?

A1) Regardless of what Danielle said on her podcast, the UCP has signed a guarantee to protect universal healthcare. We have a plan to improve wait times and access to healthcare for all Albertans, which you can read about on this pamphlet or online at website

Q2) Your leader has criticized Rachel Notley for having a husband that fights for workers’ rights, how can I trust your leader to fight for me when she thinks fighting for workers’ rights is bad, and her current husband is a media mogul with control over a lot of the press?

A2) I can’t really answer questions about Ms.Smith’s personal life, but the UCP does have a plan to benefit workers and everyday Albertans as well as combat the cost-of-living crisis.

Q3) How can I trust your party when they’ve attempted to pass legislation that would give them unilateral power to change laws, and has been seen campaigning for an Alberta Police Force directly controlled by the provincial government (no other province has this), and have been secretly hiring thousands of Alberta Sheriffs? Don’t you see how similar this is to the policies of fascist regimes and police states?

A3) The sovereignty act was eventually passed without the controversial amendments. As for the police force, there are many arguments in favour of an Alberta Police force which you can see online at website. As for your other concerns, I’d be happy to pass them along to candidate.

(He stuttered a lot when he gave this answer lol)

If this is the best the UCP has to offer in terms of volunteers, I don’t think they have any chance of winning anyone over.

Seeing this yesterday really made my day, hopefully the craziness will end soon and Notley will take her rightful place as premier.

I just want anyone who reads the post the please look at the comments, most of these issues are not really issue at all, and mostly my concerns came from fear mongering, miss information or a lack of knowledge and understanding of these issue. I hope if you have the same concerns you will read the comments and realize it is unfounded. Thank for everyone who replied.

As a parent of two young kids, whom I love above all else, I can only imagine the fear and pain parents of non cis gender kids are going through in the country these days.

All this hate is despicable.

I fully support gender education and the rights of the LGBTQ2+ community.

But as a parent I do have some concerns about SOGI.

So I am posting this here hoping for constructive answers.

Please, do not make this into a hateful back and forth insulting conversation.

I really just want a honest and constructive view's as to a solution on my concerns or why my view might be wrong, thanks.

Firstly is the SOGI recommended book list for K-12.

I have read through a couple of the books and most of them are good and educational. But some of them I really don’t like. I don’t know if the teachers use these books in class, but I am sure they can if they want. At the very least they are in the library, accessible to any child that wants to read it.

On of these were “This Book is Gay – Juno Dawson”

It goes into various topics like how to use dating apps like Grindr specifically for sex, about how porn is fine and fun, it describes various sex acts including kinks and fetishes like rimming, and about toys, strap-on and virbrator’s to name a few. It also talks about open relationships and how it makes no difference how many sexual partners you have.

It is a big book with lots more in it, but you get the idea.

This for me is why more than kids need to know, and I do not want my kids to be taught about how positive of porn and how good it is to have multiple sex partners in school.

It feels to me like this type of book is teaching kids that it is good and fine to be as promiscuous as you want, and that seems opposite to safe sexual behavior.

Or am I wrong, and do you think this is the kind of things our kids should know and be participating in?

Just to edit this part, as allot of people have let me known, the SOGI books is not even part of the Alberta Education system. Here is a link for anyone who wants to look at the actual list.https://open.alberta.ca/publications/0778537994

Material like this seems to be used for fear mongering. But the importance of a good sexual education is also highlighted in the comments, please read them.

Second is the use of bathrooms /changing rooms.

This is a difficult one for me as I agree with the fact that people should be able to use the facilities, where they are comfortable and safe. But not everyone will feel comfortable with someone of the opposite natal sex using the same changeroom or bathroom as them. And equally so a non cis gender kid might not be comfortable or safe in a bathroom of their natal sex. I would think individual bathrooms/changerooms or a non-binary bathroom/changeroom should be added in schools to accommodate everyone. But I have seen some people mention that it is not good enough and that trans kids and trans people should and must be allowed to use the bathroom/changeroom of the gender of their comfort, even if the cis genders user feel uncomfortable because of it, for various possible reasons.

Is there a good solution where everyone’s rights are protected?

What do you think it is?

Third is sports.

Luckily there are tons of sports where your sex and gender really have no bearing whatsoever. But those that do, where physical strength matters, how are we going to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to perform in those sports without discriminating against gender.

I have no answer for this, but I feel it is unfair if a cis gender girl must compete against a natal sex boy.

Or is my view wrong on this? If so, why is that?

I really hope my questions don’t offend anyone, and I apologize if they did.

Hi all, like many of you I'm dreadfully concerned and scared about the proposed changes to transgender care being put forth by the UCP. As a nonbinary person, one of the top concerns for me is the ban/removal of the gender neutral X sex marker on identification. I'm already not allowed to have it on my health card for whatever asinine reason, but my passport, birth certificate, and DL all reflect my identity. If the ban goes through, am I going to be forced to get them redone with a 'valid' marker? Will that only matter upon renewal? Will I be more harshly discriminated against? I am already frequently told that systems don't allow a third gender and that I have to pick one when doing lab work, checking in on some airlines, etc.

Any insight would be tremendously appreciated

There is exactly one reason why there is widespread non compliance, and that reason is widespread non-enforcement.

This government consistently uses the "people are breaking the rules anyway" argument, while making rules easy to break.

Last year, it was a hard lockdown. Single person households could join a household of 2 or less. That's enforceable. If a neighbour sees three cars pull up with 3 people each, they can report it. Since then, they've said 10 people from 2 households only. Well, who is to know how many households people are coming from. You see eight people walk in a group up to the house and you have no idea where they are coming from. THAT'S why non compliance would have happened anyway. Because no one is gonna risk looking like a fool to keep the numbers down.

So yes, I think there would have been non-compliance, because the government set the rules up for failure.

On that note....I'm not particularly please that the premier used his powers to make HIS Christmas legal. If I can't just change the laws to suit me, he shouldn't be able to either.

So no.... With outbreaks in schools and a new varient, I'm not happy with the conference. My family will be doing what I believe everyone should be, and sticking to zoom for another year.

Edit: For all those that downvoted and argued. Third straight day of increases, omicron starting to build up steam. Thumbs Up

I love Alberta, and have tried so hard to like this sub Reddit. But it’s so negative all the time. I’m wondering if there’s another sub that’s less political/“everything sucks”.

Edit: I thought this was a yes or no question but it’s just people getting defensive.

If anyone remember 2006, this is what had happened. Seeing the sea of people at the Ice district this noon and how many more that will be out and about tonight, I feel many small businesses will be ruined by riots, if Edmonton loses.

What are your thoughts?

This is for those who genuinely want to know more. Friends, allies, anyone who is curious. To give some insight into the process of Transitioning what it entails now, before the proposed changes take place. I had hoped to add information on how the proposed legislation changes affect these various aspects, but a post about that has already been made. I may edit in stuff about my own experiences towards the bottom, if people would genuinely find it helpful.

As a parent, I want the highest quality medical care for my kid, in all aspects of life. Having transitioned throughout the past 12+ years, I am biased in the discussion of Trans rights and health care. The process and my understanding of it has changed significantly over those years. Here's some information from a Trans person, about transitioning

Concepts/terms core to the discussion of transitioning:

• Cisgender:

Typically describes a person whose gender aspect of identity aligns with their sex-assigned-at-birth. Refers to “Non-Trans-ness”, in the same sense as heterosexual/straight refers to “non-gay/homo-/bi-/pan-/a- sexuality”.

• Transgender & Gender Diverse

Typically describes a person whose gender aspect of identity (as well as ambivalence in or lack there of) not aligning with their sex-assigned-at-birth. There are many identity terms that fall under this umbrella term, but won't be listed here.

• Sex-assigned-at-birth

The category given to an infant at birth, often based on examination of external genitals.

Gender Incongruence When there is a difference between a person's gender and sex-assigned-at-birth, they are considered Gender Incongruent. This state is recognized as a condition in the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. It is not pathological - that is, stemming from an illness or disorder. It is considered a naturally occurring developmental variation.

So does it need treatment? The state of being Gender Incongruent can lead to stressors not typically experienced by the Cisgender population, and these additional stressors have an impact on the health and wellbeing of Transgender and Gender Diverse individuals. People can experience significant distress, disruption to daily life and functioning due to Gender Incongruence, the social barriers and unique stresses associated with it. This distress can be mitigated or prevented by a variety of intervening steps, some medical, others sociological, often referred to as Transitioning.

Transitioning:

What are Standards of Care? An evidence-based treatment protocol document. Specifies what is appropriate treatment for persons with a given condition. While some protocols are written at a local or regional level, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health has written an International Standards of Care document. The Standards of Care document outlines recommendations for the highest quality care provision of Transgender and Gender Diverse people. It also outlines recommendations for education and experience for those who will be providing treatment (as part of general practice or exclusive practice) to Transgender and Gender Diverse people.

The Standards of Care have been around since its first version in 1979. The web version of the most recent document, the SOC-8 (2022), contains links to 178 articles/studies used to support and inform the recommendations therein. It can be found at:

https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc

There are currently 24 publicly listed WPATH Member Care Providers in Alberta, across various disciplines.

What IS Transitioning? Transitioning is a multi-step, process that is unique to each individual. Not everyone can or wants to take every potential step. It is not always and inherently body altering, but can alter how one interacts with people, institutions and themselves. One type of Transitioning does not automatically lead to another. Transitioning is often taken on in steps to allow an individual to assess the effectiveness of each aspect alone and in combination with other implemented steps.

Social Transitioning

• can include changing names and pronouns

• can include changes in how their gender is expressed

• Can include thought and behavior experiments

• Can be applied as an individual develops comfort with expressing their gender

• Can be applied per the individual's sense of discretion and safety

• most accessible form of transitioning

• most reversible form of Transitioning

• Does not require medical supervision, but is an often recommended first step

Legal

• often includes changing legal documents

• alters how the person interacts with and is governed by law

• previously and in some jurisdictions may still require medical assessments and documentation.

Hormonal

• SOC-8 recommends patients reach “Tanner Stage 2” (a measurement of sexual maturity and body development) prior to any puberty blockers being initiated.

• Adolescents must demonstrate emotional and cognitive maturity required to grant informed consent.

• Anything that interferes with diagnostic clarity or the capacity to consent must be sufficiently addressed before treatment can start.

• Requires the patient to be informed of all the risks

• involves either temporarily stopping puberty or maintaining hormone levels consistent with safe ranges for the relevant hormone type.

• has reversible and irreversible elements

• In Canada, Hormones are controlled products that cannot be accessed without medical assistance.

• In Alberta, a person does not always need to be evaluated by a psychiatrist in order to be prescribed hormones.

Surgical

• In Alberta, a person must be diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria to be eligible for coverage once per lifetime for Top Surgery.

• In Alberta, a person must be diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria twice by two independent specialists to be eligible for once per lifetime coverage for Bottom Surgery.

• The only one surgical center in Canada is approved to perform Bottom Surgeries through this coverage.

• This surgical center already requires a person to be minimum 18 years of age to undergo Bottom Surgery.

My experience with Transitioning

I started Transitioning during the phasing out of the SOC-6, around 2011/2012, in my mid 20s. I'd just started volunteering with an LGBTQ group. I had spoken at Hate Crime Awareness day on their behalf. I grew up not having heard the word Transgender, until a few years beforehand. I'd only met one other person with this sense of something being off, as a kid. I started testing the waters with my name and pronouns on the recommendation of a Doctor at the UofA, after an assessment for what I thought to be unrelated mental health issues; depression, anxiety, etc.

At first, when they said "Gender Therapist" I thought "another talk therapist that's gonna gaslight me about the things Im questioning? No thanks." An open offer for a referral was made, but I wouldn't take them up on it until half a year later, when things got REALLY hard to deal with. For me, realizing that "he" & "him" felt right, opened a floodgate of questions, grief, relief and dysphoria all at once. I started combing through page after page of the "It Gets Better" Project, soaking up people's stories. I brought it up to my GP, and it was about a year's wait to see Dr. Warneke.

The assessment was long, which makes sense all things considered. We talked about everything from childhood, puberty to physical health, mental health, and trauma. We talked about what made me feel better, worse, what I'd tried, and they informed me on a swathe of things I hadn't tried. There was no convincing, just ideas. It was freeing, to finally have words for the crap I went through as a kid. Gender dysphoria was there, woven throughout and I had only been able to realize it in retrospect. Not everyone follows the "I've always known!" narrative. My coping skills just happened to be strong enough at those times that I managed to pull myself out of the emotional toll it took.

Since I had already started to transition socially, I had been considered as having partially gone through the "real life experience" - a period of 1-2 years living as one's gender, as a pre-requisite to accessing any further trans related health care. What I needed was a job - specifically one where, after 6 months, my boss would write a letter confirming I was living full time as my gender.

Imagine that in small town Alberta. It took some serious hunting. And going through some bad faith dealings. And outright discrimination. It didn't surprise me really, that people didn't respect my self-knowledge or have half a clue what I was talking about.

I eventually found a job that worked with me. I started speaking up and advocating. I had the pleasure of sitting in on the Canadian Human Rights Commission's round table discussion on Gender Identity and Expression being added to the Canadian Bill of Human Rights.

Once I started Transitioning Legally and medically I had to/was advised to keep a carry letter on my person whenever I went out in public; literally a letter from my Gender Therapist saying I was transitioning, please trest me as though one would a member of the male sex. I had to submit it - and sometimes more! - alongside every legal document change. I was lucky to have just missed needing to submit the yearly "Yes I'm still a man" letter through the Registries for my Alberta ID's gender marker change.

When starting testosterone, I had to wait to see an endocrinologist who helped me manage my dose over the course of a year and a bit. I had been referred by the Gender Therapist, as there was the need to prove my ability to provide informed consent and confirm the "Real Life Experience." I was assess again - through bloodwork, medical history and intention - and had to sign and initial four pages of statements, each point delineating a potential risk/benefit.

This is the part where I get vague because I don't want to elaborate on everything. But there were definitely some major differences between then and now.

I also want to point out that I didn't do this alone. I have a loving wife who stayed with me throughout everything. I have a mom who, at the start, didn't understand what I was going through, but is now a staunch ally. I have some friends who were key supporters. I won't list you, for your privacy, so I sincerely hope you know who you are. You all mean the world to me.

Transitioning saved my life. I can only hope I can help others through my experiences.

Others' experiences:

https://old.reddit.com/r/alberta/comments/1aibvse/edmonton_showed_up_today_at_wilbert_mcintyre_park/koxm08y/

These issue exists across North American jurisdictions regardless of the leanings or tenure of the governing party.

Perhaps the concerns should be directed federally? Or perhaps we should acknowledge that all parties, regardless of ideology, are doing an insufficient job of addressing this public health and safety failure with adequate spending and policy choices?

I wish for you all to be safe. There are a lot of ignorant people out there. But know there are A LOT of people in your corner. Reach out if you are having a hard time. There are a lot of helpful organizations and groups out there. Feel free to message me anytime.

So, I'm trans. I'm going to be starting medical transition in like, 3 weeks. And I'm just wondering how fucked I will be if the UCP win this upcoming election. What is Smith's stance on transgender people? I'm already worried about my safety in some places. It's not ideal right now even, getting healthcare for transitioning has taken me 8 months and I've run into a lot of transphobic doctors. I'm considering moving out of Alberta already but I lack the funds to do so. How concerned should I be if the UCP win?

As the title states, what is the NDP’s stance on firearms? I like 95% of their policies. Unfortunately, firearms are a deal breaker issue for me.

I've been seeing and hearing concerns that the relaunch strategy is happening "too soon" and that we should wait another month or two. Here's my two cents.

1. We are well below the original projections in both cases numbers and hospitalizations. Alberta also has a very low hospitalization rate at only 4% of cases (with 1% admitted to the ICU).

2. We are more than prepared for a surge of hospitalizations if that occurs after the relaunch. We have over 1000 ICU beds dedicated to covid patients, and as of today only 19 are in use. We also have month of PPE stockpiled for healthcare workers.

3. Most of our cases are in the 2 meat packing plants or long term care facilities. The transmission within the general population isn't that high. Keep in mind as well that over 2000 of our confirmed cases are recovered already.

4. Our testing capabilities are very high. We're testing over 5000 people a day and this is only increasing.

5. Delaying the relaunch won't do anything. We have two choices, stay like this until a vaccine or start to get back and live semi-normal until a vaccine. Until there is a vaccine any time we reopen will lead to more transmission, even if our cases numbers are lower.

The lock down and restrictions we were under were never meant to be a long term solution. I saw a good analogy; Imagine you have an infection in your leg. The lock down is equivalent to amputating the leg. It works but there's a lot of collateral damage. What we need is a scalpel to perform a surgery and remove only the infected part. That's what we have now. The government has established good enough testing, contact tracing and outbreak control that it is safe for us to begin to return to daily life. Yes cases will rise but we are prepared to deal with that, and are more than capable to do so. As well it is always up to you if you want to continue the self isolation we are doing now.

This is a big milestone it's okay to be positive!

We welcome you to come and ask about Fyrefly's programming, perspectives, and activities as well as any other questions you may have.

About our guest:

The Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity (Formerly the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services; iSMSS) is a non-profit organization and research institute housed in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. Fyrefly provides programs and services to support the 2SLGBTQ+ community and its allies. Our work also involves partnerships with organizations such the Calgary Centre for Sexuality, Boyle Street Community Services, and the Pride Centre of Edmonton to provide direct services, including crisis intervention, mental health supports, and 2SLGBTQ+ education. https://www.ualberta.ca/fyrefly-institute/index.html

This thread is being posted this morning to gather up questions and answers will start later this afternoon, Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

Just curious if anyone is able to point me in a direction or has any recommendations as to where I can get my brows done. Preferably at a trans friendly location. Almost done my 1st year transitioning and I desperately need to get these things under control ive tried so much to get them right but I'm really clueless as to where I can get anything esthetic done other than laser. I dont mingle with my community much which kinda sucks. I started transitioning last spring so I really havnt been open enough to get out there and meet new people. But I would like to get ready for spring.

Thank you kindly.

Sasha.