Protesters rally against Alberta’s proposed transgender rules, decry Smith’s closed-door meeting

A rally was held in downtown Calgary Friday morning to protest the province’s proposed policies that would impact transgender youth.

Holding placards outside the McDougall Centre, protesters were voicing their opinions against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s closed-door meeting with some 2SLGBTQIA+ community members.

“No one who cares about the life and wellness of trans people is in that meeting,” says protester James Demers.

The protestors say the groups meeting with Smith do not represent all members of the queer community, and they fear this misrepresentation could negatively affect future provincial policies around transgender people in Alberta.

“We have been telling her that her anti-trans policies that have been proposed in February are discriminatory and against the constitution,” says Demers. “We were going to take her to court over them for almost a year.

“And she’s chosen to do the conservative standard, hold secret meetings so they can get the information that they want, so they can do whatever they want.”

Minister Tanya Fir shot back at claims the consultation is happening in secret, saying they aren’t releasing the names of the people they are speaking to after safety concerns at previous round table meetings.

In a statement, Smith’s office says the premier met with members and allies of the community “to hear from them directly about what issues are important to them.”

Earlier this year, Smith announced proposed policy changes that would affect transgender Albertans, including restrictions on hormone therapy and surgery, participation in sport, and requiring parental consent for students 15 and under who want to change their name or pronouns.

Meg Hasek-Watt is a registered psychologist working with trans people and says she has personally seen the impacts of the proposed policies on the community.

“We have a lot of people who are very scared, suicidality is up,” says Hasek-Watt. “We know that trans-affirming care and gender-affirming care is health care and it is life-saving. We see it all the time.”

The Alberta government plans to put the policy changes into effect in the fall legislature sitting.

Over a dozen 2SLGBTQIA+ groups in Alberta banned Smith and the United Conservative Party (UCP) from participating in 2024 Pride events.

With files from Tiffany Goodwein