Last week, Alberta passed Canada’s first gender-affirming care ban, ignoring the medical consensus, evidence, and the trans youth and their families who begged them not to do this. We condemn these laws.

We mourn those who we have lost to anti-trans violence, whether that violence was enacted by individuals or by policies and institutions.

Recently, the government of Alberta recommitted to banning and restricting gender-affirming care for Albertan trans youth, along with passing other anti-trans legislation impacting both education

Anti-trans policy and legislative shifts highlight the pervasiveness of anti-trans attacks on safety, bodily autonomy, and healthcare access. This is not a faraway problem impacting people we do not know and will never meet.

Trans and intersex people experience discrimination for having bodies and experiences that do not conform to socially constructed sex and gender binaries.

The policy changes announced yesterday by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith put trans youth at risk, taking recent politically motivated legislative and policy changes targeting trans and gender diverse communities in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick even further. This is a direct attack on trans and gender diverse youth that will cause harm.

This year on TDOR, we remember everyone murdered through the violence of colonial occupation, whether directly by weapons and bombardment, or indirectly by the coordinated obstruction of the necessities of life.

(content warning for suicide)

Many of you will have heard by now about the recent death of Bekett Noble. They were a non-binary student who died by suicide at Redeemer University. This is a small statement to share some information about what happened, what’s happening now, and resources.