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Those who oppose transgender rights have no excuse

Work to overcome your personal biases.
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Those who oppose transgender rights have no excuse

This isn’t a point that I feel I should have to keep making, but it is something that needs stating again and again: the rights of transgender and non-binary people are essential, and no one has any right to deny them protection.

Those who oppose the rights of transgender people have no true reason. They often cite religious arguments, but cannot give any passages from religious texts that support what they are saying. The Bible says nothing about trans people.

The thing is that someone being transgender has absolutely no affect on you whatsoever. The way they express their gender identity is something personal to them - it does not affect you. Those who argue against it know this. I remember asking someone who is against trans rights how it affected them. They had no response. Because it’s true — it has absolutely nothing to do with anyone except that individual. They are not harming anyone. So why are you against it? There is absolutely zero justifiable reason. Zero.

Bill C-16 protects transgender individuals in Canada from hate crimes, hate speech. and offences motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate. Many Conservatives are against this. They have no justifiable reason here either. All the bill is doing is protecting people against hate crimes. Further, trans people with family support are up to 82 per cent less likely to commit suicide. Those whose parents reject their gender identity are 13 times more likely to consider suicide.

Knowing these stats, how can you tell someone that you believe they don’t deserve to have rights under the law? That you think they don’t deserve the same rights as you? Is using their correct pronoun not worth potentially saving a life? Work to overcome your personal biases. Opposing it says a lot more about you than it does about them.

Piper Cote

Cowichan Bay