Bill C-16 a huge win, says local LGBTQ community
The leader and founder of the Battlefords and Area Gender and Sexuality Alliance believes the passing of Bill C-16 is a huge win for the local LGBTQ community and will help eliminate discrimination.
Last Friday the Senate passed Bill C-16, which will amend the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (CHRF) and the Criminal Code of Canada to include the protection of transgendered people. In summary the bill states that transgendered people cannot be discriminated against when it comes to employment and courts have the authority to rule on sentences to include hate crimes towards transgendered.
According to Kay-Lynne Collier, founder and executive director of the Battlefords and Area Gender Alliance, this is a big step for the LGBTQ community.
“We are really excited about it. It is great news and a victory for trans people all over Canada,” Collier said. “It now protects trans people in the same way it would race and sexuality under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the past, they were able to be legally discriminated against in the workplace, which has led to high rates of trans unemployment and homelessness.”