It was a welcome (if unexpected) response from Ontario premier Doug Ford last February: a resounding no, he would not consider any legislation or action against trans youth. At a time when conservative premiers in Canada had taken the opportunity to attack trans kids’ access to health and safety, Ford opted instead to split from the pack.
“We have a law here,” he told reporters last month. “We’re leaving everything alone.”
Ford hasn’t always been so kind to trans youth. He spent his earlier years in office rallying against Ontario’s updated sex-ed curriculum, which would introduce students to concepts of gender and sexuality in thoughtful, age-appropriate, and progressive ways. And just a year ago, he agreed with Alberta premier Danielle Smith — who has led the charge on anti-trans policies in schools — that parents should be informed if their child asks to be referred to by different pronouns in a classroom setting. (Doing so forcibly outs children and puts them at risk of harm at home if their family or guardians are unsupportive of their identities.) “It’s not up to the school boards to indoctrinate our kids," Ford said in September.
It’s impossible to pick apart Ford’s about-face last month or establish whether it signals a more positive direction for the premier on LGBTQ2S+ rights. We can take the small wins when they come and breathe a momentary sigh of relief when our communities avoid yet another bashing from elected officials. But in many ways, Ford’s small display of strength — to fortify the laws that already protect trans people, legislation that was fought for tirelessly by LGBTQ2S+ activists and allies — is meaningless.
For starters, Smith’s legislative battle against trans youth — along with the equally appalling fights premiers Scott Moe and Blaine Higgs have waged in their provinces, and anti-trans comments by federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre — has translated into hate against trans people nationwide. Even in Ontario, where trans rights and protections are enshrined in law, trans people continue to experience discrimination.
At the end of February, it got worse: Pride Toronto executive director Kojo Modeste directly attributed a rise in hate speech against trans people in the city to Poilievre’s comments that trans women should not be able to use spaces like bathrooms and changerooms designated for their gender. Modeste also pointed to a growing number of suicides in the community.
Symbols matter, but beyond the headshakes against a full-fledged culture war on trans kids, Ford has said little else in support of the vulnerable community — and has done even less. So it’s time to look to the future. What trans communities in Ontario, especially trans youth, need more than ever is action.
To start: an absolute condemnation of what is happening to trans kids across this country — from one premier to another. But the real work would be in the policies and services that can change the daily lives of trans youth. Ontario schools won’t out trans kids to their parents, but the province’s publicly funded Catholic schools still remain unsafe spaces for LGBTQ2S+ students — many school boards refuse to even raise Pride flags. Health care in Ontario won’t be restricted in the same ways it will be in Alberta, but many trans youth experience discrimination in doctors’ offices and barriers in the health-care system, which often lead to poorer health outcomes.
Perhaps fittingly, ahead of the International Trans Day of Visibility, it is crucial to recognize the importance of seeing the problems and doing something tangible to fix them. Celebrating trans lives matters, and seeing trans people thrive matters. But it’s the job of political leaders to help trans people thrive, to make the world they navigate easier.
NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, for instance, tabled a private-member’s bill to improve access to gender-affirming care in Ontario. But private-member’s bills rarely become law, and the bill lost to a vote during its second reading this month.
And so we are left with Ford. Can we trust our premier to go beyond platitudes, to elevate the work of trans Ontarians and allies? Ontario’s leader has not actively made the situation worse in recent months. But he also isn’t making it better.
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