Blogosaurus Lex

The Legislating Sexualities in Alberta panel is today from 12-2pm in FAB 220 on the U of A Main Campus. I’m looking forward to going, but if you can’t be there, don’t worry. CJSR’s Gaywire is recording it and you’ll be able to download the audio.

In my last post on LSA, I mentioned my hope that there would be some discussion on the use of social media around Bill 44. Therefore, I was very excited to see that Edmonton blogger MasterMaq, with Edmonton Journal columnist Paul Simons (who won a Civil Liberties award from the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre for her coverage of the Bill),  complied some data on the Twitter stream around Bill 44 for May and June 2009. There isn’t much analysis yet, but there is a lot of raw data just waiting for it.

I started reading blogs because I love to learn and I’m happy to find that writing for blogs provides similar opportunities.

When I first read the description for the Legislating Sexualities panel, I assumed ‘declaration of pride in Edmonton’ was referring to the fact that Edmonton, while by no means free of discrimination, is a fairly open city. Former City Councilor Michael Phair was the first openly gay politician elected in Canada. The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services grew out of one of the first university LGBT ally groups in Canada and provides U of A with “an interdisciplinary ‘hub’ for scholarly work in sexual-minority studies,” runs  CampfYrefly for sexual minority youth and has been running the InsideOut Speaker’s Series since 2003. The Exposure Festival had a successful third year and is now one of the city’s established summer events. And Gaywire brings Edmontonians an awesome hour of LGBT news and event every week. I look around me and think, “Well of course there’s pride in Edmonton.”

When I looked at the event description a little bit later and a little bit closer, however, I realized it referred to the mayoral declaration of pride in Edmonton. I had no idea what that meant. I did a little bit of research (ie: Googling) and discovered that Edmonton hasn’t always been so open.

Recently there has been a push to have cities officially recognize Pride events and that struggle continues.  There has been strong opposition from politicians and in some cases it has taken rulings by Human Rights Commissions to enforce recognition. In 2003, then-mayor Bill Smith said declaring Gay Pride Week in Edmonton would go against his religious beliefs. A complaint was filed with the Human Rights Commission arguing this decision was discriminatory and based on the mayor’s personal belief. Smith relented before a decision could be made on the case and Pride week was official declared by the city.

Canadians take pride in being one of the first nations in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, but often forget it was through the Supreme Court’s enforcement of the Charter, not because of political will. It’s only been 40 years since homosexuality was decriminalized, and 30 years since Operation Soap. Human Rights legislation exists to protect people from the tyranny of the majority and are a vital part of an open society. I’m glad Canada has such legislation and our courts and commissions are willing to enforce it. I look forward to a discussion of how such legislation has affected the lives of Canadians.

For more information about the history of homosexuality in Canada, check out the two part series Out in Canada on CBC Radio’s Rewind.

Updated: Note the new location, FAB 220

The Political Science Graduate Association and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta are presenting the panel Legislating Sexualities in Alberta.  It will be held from 12-2pm on Friday, February 5, 2010 in FAB 220, University of Alberta North Campus. More information can be found on the facebook page:

This panel will bring together a number of interested and informed actors to discuss the implications of the Alberta government’s actions and attitudes pertaining to sexual minorities. The motivations, repercussions and significance of the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act (AIRA), Bill 44, the de-listing of gender reassignment surgery, and the eventual declaration of pride in Edmonton will be considered.

Panelists:

Lucas Crawford (English & Film Studies)                          Dr. André P. Grace (Education)
Dr. Lois Harder (Political Science)                                     Dr. Cressida Heyes (Philosophy)
Rachel Notley (MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona)                 Michael Phair (Education)

Like it or not, the law has major consequences and affects on our identities and relationships. I’m looking forward to hearing this panel discuss what these consequences and affects are for sexual minorities in Alberta.

Bill 44 amended the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act (HRCMA), in part by changing its name to the Alberta Human Rights Act (AHRA), and generated controversy because of its enshrinement of parental rights and its use of the Human Rights Commission to enforce them.  For a deeper understanding of the bill and its ramifications, read this post by Linda McKay Panos.

I hope there is some discussion of citizen engagement in response to the bill and how social media fueled and facilitated the debate. A letter writing campaign was launched and rallies were held in opposition, Facebook groups were started on both sides of the debate and there was much discussion on Twitter – to the point where the hashtag #bill44 trended (was one of the most mentioned terms or hashtags on the site) during the final debate of the bill.

What gained less attention was the reason the legislation was being reviewed. In the 1998 the ruling on the Vriend case, the Supreme Court of Canada read sexual orientation in to the AHRA (then the HRCMA). Due to the common law tradition, the law itself changed as soon as the ruling was handed down. Legislatures usually amend the written law to reflect such changes soon after such a ruling, but in this case, Alberta’s legislature took ten years to respond. I’m curious about the length of time governments have to change written legislation after an SCC decision.

The de-listing of gender reassignment surgery (GRS, also known as Sexual Reassignment Surgery, SRS) for transgendered Albertans raises questions about who we deem worthy of medical treatment and how marginalized minority groups are treated in Alberta. It also raises questions about how people are defined under the law. Our society is heavily invested in the idea of a gender binary and our laws and bureaucratic processes reflect that. Transgendered people in Alberta, and in most places, must identify themselves as male or female on government documents (India legally recognizes the hijra as a third gender, but even this is problematic, in part because it groups all non-conforming gender expression in to an ‘other’ category). Not conforming with one’s legally designated gender can have many legal consequences (US websites) going beyond discrimination.

Ontario was forced to re-list GRS after the Ontario Human Rights Commission found gender identity disorder was a disability protected by human rights legislation. This raises questions of how we classify difference; it would be better to see trans people protected in terms of identity than in terms of disability. Complaints have been filed in Alberta claiming the de-listing of GRS is in violation of the AHRA.  I am hopeful the precedent set in Ontario will be followed, these challenges will be won and funding for GRS will be reinstated.

I’m also very interested in learning more about the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act. Though it can be argued this legislation was created to prevent same-sex couples from marrying, it is progressive in terms of its recognition of legal rights for people in alternative households. Although it does not provide all of the legal benefits of marriage, it is a law that acknowledges people have ways of supporting each other and living together outside of the nuclear family structure. The AIRA is a fairly new law and some of its language is ambiguous. I’d like to know what kind of cases, if any, have come before the courts to test this law.

Though it’s been over 40 years since Trudeau declared the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, the law continues to affect our relationships and our identities. I’m looking forward to learning more about how it does so and what the consequences – intended and not – are.

Legislating Sexualities in Alberta will be held from 12-2pm on Friday, February 5, 2010 at the University of Alberta in Dentistry/Pharmacy 2104, University of Alberta North Campus.

If you can’t wait to think about how the law effects and interacts with our identities, relationships and life chances, check out this lecture from Dean Spade entitled Trans Politics Beyond Law and Order. Spade recently spoke at UofA as part of iSMSS’s Inside/OUT Speakers Series and was recorded by CJSR’s GayWire.  Dean Spade is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Seattle Faculty of Law and founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which “works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence.”

Tune in to Adamant Eve this Friday at 5:30 on CJSR 88.5 FM or on www.cjsr.com! We’re airing excerpts from my interview with Vikki Law, keynote speaker at the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair.

Law (who I blogged about here) is an activist who supports women in prisons. She has worked to bring books to prisoners for many years and in 2003 released the first issue of the zine Tenacious: Art and Writing from Women in Prison. Issue #18 of Tenacious was recently released, and it continues to be a way for women to express themselves and have their voices heard, as well as a way to know they are not alone in their struggles. Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcertaed Women, Law’s new book, was released in March of this year and chronicles the history of women’s resistance, the issues facing women in prison, and how women continue to resist the oppressive conditions of prisons today. In our interview, Law cited supporting GELA and the Prison Sub-Committee as a way people in Edmonton can be involved in supporting prisoners!

Law will be speaking at the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair at 7pm on Friday, October 2nd at the Ukrainian Centre, 11018 97 Street. She will also be leading a workshop at the Bookfair on how to support women in prison on Saturday from 2:30-3:30pm. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to come to both events.

Cross posted on the GELA Prison Project Blog

Listen to Adamant Eve tonight at 5:30 to hear my interview with Jennifer Koshan of the Women’s Court of Canada.

The Women’s Court of Canada is a group of academics, lawyers, and equality activists who came together to rewrite decisions of the Supreme Court which they felt were lacking in consideration of section 15. The result is six decisions which were published in Volume 18 of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law.

In March of this year, four members of the WCC came to the University of Alberta, spoke about the Court and conducted workshops on their respective decisions. Professor Koshan spoke about N.A.P.E.;  Gwen Brodsky spoke about Gosselin v. Quebec (Attorney General);  Sharon McIvor spoke about Native Women’s Association of Canada v. Canada; and Melina Buckley, who rewrote Symes v. Canada spoke about her work with the suit filed against the government of British Columbia by the Canadian Bar Association demanding the government recognize civil legal aid as a consititutional right. It was a facistnating afternoon and luckily for Eve listeners we recorded it and will be playing the lectures on upcoming shows.

I spoke with Professor Koshan about the formation of the Women’s Court, about the N.A.P.E. case, which Professor Koshan chose to rewrite, about pay equity, and much more.

Listen to Adamant Eve on Fridays at 5:30 on CJSR 88.5 FM or listen live at www.cjsr.ualberta.ca/listenlive.htm.

UPDATE: The podcast can now be found on Adamant Eve’s main page, blog, and by clicking here.

Originally posted on the Adamant Eve blog.

The podcast of my interview with San San Sy about our website Canadian Law & Modern Day Foreign Brides is now available on the Adamant Eve website.

Click here to listen!

Hi everyone! I’m Laura Collison, the Legal Resource Centre’s Program Assistant. My job, as the title suggests, is to assist the LRC in the running of our programs and projects and ranges from printing and distributing booklets to talking to people about the LRC at events like Law Day to updating our websites.

I’m also involved with Edmonton’s only feminist news radio show, Adamant Eve, which can be heard Fridays at 5:30 on CJSR 88.5 FM or www.cjsr.ualberta.ca. I recently had the opportunity to interview a member of our staff, San San Sy about the website Canadian Law & Modern Day Foreign Brides which the LRC created in partnership with Changing Together…A Centre for Immigrant Women.

San San and I discussed how the need for the site was identified, the process of creating the site, and how it has served women since its creation. Information is power, so the site is designed to assist women and intermediaries to understand the law and their rights. The site covers everything from sponsorship issues to differences between legal requirements and a future husband’s expectations. Thanks for the great interview, San San!

UPDATE: Click here to listen to a podcast of our interview on the Adamant Eve website.