Between the Margins

Dear Canadian Business Owners and Politicians,

Bill C-389 is up for vote on February 7th in the House of Commons. While some have labeled it the bathroom bill, others about common decency and obvious Canadian values. Here is a different way of looking at it.
I am a Diversity trainer and work with companies getting themselves out of hot water when they violate the Human Rights Code. Companies deny access to a woman entering the woman’s washroom, and they find themselves subject to a huge financial loss due to Human Rights action on the part of that woman. This happens to men as well, but I’ll focus on the woman.
How this happens is that the employer/service provider doesn’t see TRANS or Gender Identity/Gender Expression listed as a protected ground under the Human Rights Code but it is there. They don’t understand the complexities of one community protected by two different grounds under the code. Trans people already have the RIGHT to use the washroom. They already have the RIGHT to demand their employer or service provider accommodate them. Bill C-389 is not giving anyone any rights or freedoms that don’t already exist! What it is doing is making it visible.
Why is visibility important? Because it protects everyone on both sides of the equation. We hear a lot from the Trans people regarding the advantages that it affords them, but the silent side is how it helps business owners and average Canadians stay out of trouble. By making Gender Identity/Gender Expression visible, business owners can understand how it applies to them.
For example there was a story in the news a few years ago where Casino Rama denied access to the woman’s washroom to an identified woman. She was a trans person, identified as a woman which under Canadian law makes her a legal woman regardless of any surgeries she may or may not of had to conform her body to social standards. Security stopped her and asked her to use the private handicapped washroom because a patron had complained. This simple action caused a Human Rights complaint to be initiated by the woman. If Casino Rama had been properly trained, and had seen the rules clearly written they could have avoided this scenario completely and protected themselves from defending against an expensive Human Rights complaint. Answer: Simply escort the complaining individual to a safe and secure private handicapped washroom where they can feel safe and secure. No violation has occurred, and everyone is happy. Simple knowledge and visibility of the rules protect companies from making mistakes.
This is completely irrelevant if you agree or disagree with the above paragraph. There are many laws in this country that I do not agree with, but knowing they are there protects me from violating them and landing myself in hot water.
Bill C-389 protects companies from erroneously violating the Human Rights Code, as well as all those great things it does for trans people themselves.
Michelle Boyce
Diversity Trainer and Radio Host for “Between the Margins” on CHRW
www.diversitytrainglive.com
www.betweenthemargins.ca