Trans Rights YEG’s Rowan Morris speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about the Alberta government’s legislation on transgender youth.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: We have a conversation before the government presents its legislation on gender policies. What are you preparing for?

Rowan Morris: I’m really bracing myself for the social impact this is going to have on my community. No matter what is passed by the Legislature, ultimately, no matter what is written into policy, the negative impact this will have on the mental health of transgender people in Alberta will be felt for years to come.

MH: Albertans knew this was coming, the premier made it clear in a video she released about nine months ago. To what extent did this open a window to discuss what this bill would look like?

RM: For Alberta’s diverse community, there hasn’t really been a conversation between us and the UCP. Many of us haven’t been educated on this topic, and many of us don’t agree with it, but what it has opened up is the possibility for members of the gender community diverse people to come together and really organize with each other. The community that came from this video released in January was monumental.

MH: You knocked on the door and said, “Hey, we want to have a voice here,” and what was the response?

RM: The response was greater than we could have ever imagined. When this video came out, I was sitting in my living room and I said to myself: I can’t let this happen to me, I can’t let my rights be debated in front of me.

We decided to prepare a response and we were able to bring together about 1,000 people over four days and since then we have been very involved and very appreciated in the educational materials that we have published on this legislation and gender. Diverse Albertans.

MH: Whatever this policy looks like, when it is finally adopted during the Legislature’s fall session, why is it concerning? The government says it is motivated to ensure future choices are preserved before minors potentially make permanent, life-changing decisions. How are things going with you?

RM: We make ongoing, life-changing decisions every day, and currently in the Legislative Assembly they are talking about the importance of personal medical autonomy for Albertans throughout the Bill of Rights.

It is not lost on my community that transgender people are also not considered entitled to this personal medical autonomy, and that the motivation for this legislation is to preserve choice and give people time to make this decision , removing resources like puberty blockers and school education about these identities will only create more confusion and could lead to seriously damaging permanent decisions.

The transition is not something that is very detrimental, but things like self-harm, increased risky behaviors, increased risk of suicide, those are also permanent decisions that can come from enshrining this policy.

MH: This is legislation aimed at young people. You are a young adult. How do you think this legislation might seep into your own life?

RM: When policies like these are brought up, the motivation for hatred against these communities increases. No matter what minority community it is, we saw the rise of hatred against many people of Asian descent when COVID started, my community feels it.

I’ve been a victim of street harassment, I’ve been discriminated against, I’ve been asked to leave institutions, and it really impacts a young person’s self-esteem and dignity.

It’s hard enough knowing who you are when you’re not trans. It’s even harder when people tell you that you don’t have the power to make these decisions about yourself.

MH: UCP members are gathering in Red Deer this weekend for their annual general meeting. There is also a review of the Prime Minister’s leadership, but policy is also up for discussion. There are a number of attention-grabbing policies, banning transgender people from women’s restrooms, banning non-binary gender identifiers on government documents, ensuring trans medical treatments are not publicly funded State.

These policies are not binding on the government, but what does this tell you about the current political dynamics in Alberta?

RM: This tells me he is incredibly misinformed. Many of these policies proposed at the AGM are rooted in misinformation, disinformation and hateful rhetoric against transgender people.

Prohibiting transgender women from using restrooms implies that transgender women pose a threat to women’s restrooms, which is not actually true. Removing X identifiers from government documents is tantamount to denying intersex people the opportunity to be properly written and identified.

It’s denying that people have existed in gender diversity for centuries. There are mummies that come from Egypt that stuffed cotton into their wrappings to look like breasts so that they would be buried affirmatively. Two-Spirit people have existed since time immemorial.

To imply that these policies are there to help is also to imply that our community has not existed for very long and that we represent a threat.

MH: What message do you send to the legislator’s actions? What messages will you convey?

RM: The same messages they’re sending in there right now. This is because bodily autonomy, medical autonomy, freedom are Alberta values, and this applies to all Albertans, including transgender people.