November 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day dedicated to remembering all those who have died as a result of violence and discrimination against transgender people. It’s a day CUPE Ontario is proud to support, a day that has been observed for 17 years.
This year, though, it’s also encouraging to see how quickly the world is finally changing. The public is much more aware of transgender communities and the struggle for equality faced by trans activists and allies. In Toronto, we’ve seen the Trans Pride March grow exponentially year after year, from a couple hundred just five years ago to thousands in the last two years.
We’ve seen the passing of Toby’s Law, which amended the Ontario Human Rights Code to include gender identity and gender expression. Federally, a law to extend human rights protection championed by the NDP was left to die in the Senate by the Conservatives. But the new federal justice minister has promised to revive NDP MP Randall Garrison’s bill. With the government on-side embracing transgender rights, we may finally see movement forward on the national stage.
Changing legislation is not the end of a struggle. It is just the beginning.
The transgender community faces some of the highest rates of violence and depression in the country, and only by working together to change our society will we end a painful history of discrimination.
So, while we honour and respect those we’ve lost, we also stand with those who want to organize to make the world a better place. We’re a union. Organizing is what we do. And we must continue to organize to improve the lives of our members and, by extension, all people.
CUPE Ontario is very proud of the role our union and our members have played in advancing gender identity and gender expression rights. Together with our members, we have a strong history of fighting for rights, whether by supporting a member to get gender assignment surgery restored to OHIP, bargaining equality into collective agreements, or campaigning alongside NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo for legislation like Toby’s Law.
As a union, we have also developed and successfully negotiated collective agreement language on many equality fronts, including specific language to support transgendered members in our workplaces. CUPE was one of the very first unions to bargain protection for transgendered workers.
November 20 is a day to mourn, but it’s also a day to celebrate that which we have achieved, and to renew our commitment to making new gains in the months and years ahead.
To that end, we encourage all members to write their MPs and the Justice Minister to ensure the new bill follows the spirit of NDP MP Randall Garrison’s bill, and finally advances rights for transgender people across Canada.
We all have a role to play in educating our members and co-workers, to report transphobic acts and to make our workplaces and communities safe.
