As we mark pride season, we reflect on the resilience of our sexual-and gender-diverse communities, and the progress we have made towards building a more inclusive legal system.
We take this time to thank the CBA’s volunteers and dedicated staff for their advocacy and support of 2SLGBTQIA+ causes. At the CBA’s recent annual general meeting, we passed resolutions codifying the CBA’s commitment to combatting transphobia and homophobia in general, and to ending harmful education policies in particular.
While we celebrate, we remember that pride has always been more than a party: it is a protest and a call to action. The past year has served as a reminder that our hard-won rights are vulnerable, and that the lives of two-spirit, trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals are being used as a political football. We are alarmed by the unprecedented cadence at which provincial governments have invoked or proposed to invoke the notwithstanding clause to bring forth laws that would discriminate against 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, especially trans youth, in areas of health care, education, and sport.
As we said recently in a letter to the Minister of Justice, without immediate action, our section is deeply concerned that the Charter will become meaningless, and that the next generation of law students, lawyers, and judges will be raised in a version of Canadian law in which the Charter is seen as an inconvenience that can be readily dismissed rather than a foundational law that must prevail over all others.
This pride season, we ask that you join us in using your privilege as lawyers, and every platform available, to stand up to bigotry and hate, and to empower your 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings, friends, clients, and colleagues. It is time to stand up for basic rights.
Thank you,
Kees de Ridder (he/him)
Chair, CBA SAGDA