Canada
Alberta to block gender care, forcibly out transgender kids
Premier Danielle Smith announced new policies this week
The leader of Canada’s province of Alberta announced a slate of new anti-LGBTQ policies in a video released on social media on Wednesday prompting outcry from queer activists who say the new policies will be the most restrictive on queer and transgender youth in Canada.
In a seven-minute video uploaded to X, Premier Danielle Smith announced that “top and bottom” surgeries would be restricted to those aged 18 and older, while trans youth under age 16 would no longer be able to access hormone therapies. Genital surgeries are already not generally medically recommended or performed on minors in Canada.
Trans students under 16 will need parental permission before using a name or pronoun different from their legal name in school, while students 16 and older will have their parents notified of any name and pronoun changes.
The premier says the province will also work to restrict women’s and girls’ sports to biological females, while also encouraging new coed leagues that trans students would be allowed to play in.
Additionally, under the new policy, parents will need to be notified and given the right to opt their children out before any classroom discussion on sexuality and gender, while “third party materials” on the sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity will need to be vetted by the Education Ministry before they can be used in class.
It’s unclear at this point how the new policies will be enacted or enforced, but Smith has said that she wants the policies to be in place by the fall. Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate, an office of the legislature, was not briefed on the policy before it was announced.
In her video, Smith also announces that the government will attempt to recruit doctors who can perform gender-confirming surgeries to Alberta for adult care — currently, those seeking gender surgeries must travel to Quebec for care, nearly 2,000 miles away. Smith says that about 100 people receive gender-confirming surgeries annually, about a quarter of whom are aged 18-25.
Smith also announces that child protection laws will be strictly enforced to protect trans children from abusive parents.
However, in her follow up press conference today, Smith seemed to be unaware of what gender care involves, erroneously suggesting that people who undergo gender-affirming care cannot have sex or reproduce.
The Canadian LGBTQ advocacy group Egale and the Canadian Civil Liberties Union quickly announced that it would be filing a legal action against the policy.
“This is a direct and unprecedented attack on 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians, and trans and gender diverse youth in particular. The draconian measures announced run directly counter to expert guidance and evidence, violate the constitutional rights of 2SLGBTQI+ people, and will lead to irreparable harm and suffering,” Egale says in a statement. “The government of Alberta is playing politics with some of the most vulnerable members of our society: Trans and gender diverse youth, attacking them for cheap political points. We will not stand for it.”
The policies were also quickly denounced by Women and Sport Canada and the Alberta Teacher’s Association, the Alberta New Democratic Party and the mayor of Calgary.
Federal Cabinet ministers were also quick to denounce the policy, but cautioned that until the policy is actually brought forward, there isn’t anything for the government to take action against.
“As a parent, my heart breaks for young 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Alberta who are being targeted by @ABDanielleSmith’s harmful and misguided policy. To trans and gender diverse youth: Please know that we — and so many Canadians — stand with you and will stand up for your rights,” Justice Minister Arif Virani wrote on X.
Trans activist Fae Johnstone, founder of the advocacy group Queer Momentum, denounced the policy and called on allies and the federal government to do more to protect trans youth.
“Conservative premiers are bullying trans kids. This whole issue has cast aside the humanity of transgender young people. Kids deserve better than this. Trans young people deserve to grow up in safe and supportive environments,” Johnstone wrote on X.
Alberta’s new policies around trans youth and sexual orientation in schools are the most restrictive to be proposed in Canada but follow a growing trend among conservative-run provinces.
The policy around parental notification and consent surrounding name and pronoun use mirrors similar policies introduced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick last year. The governments of Ontario and Quebec also announced similar policies would be forthcoming last year, but have not announced them yet.
When a judge blocked the Saskatchewan policy as likely unconstitutional, the Saskatchewan government passed a bill that allows the policy to override the Charter of Rights, using a constitutional procedure that has seen growing use by Canada’s right-wing provincial governments in recent years. Smith did not rule out using the “notwithstanding” clause to shield the policy from judicial review.
There’s little evidence that these policies are popular among the mainstream in Canada. Last year, Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government lost an election after campaigning on introducing a “parents’ rights” policy around trans students. New Brunswick will go to the polls later this year.
In the northern Alberta town of Westlock, voters will weigh in on banning Pride flags on municipal property this month.
A hardcore base of anti-LGBTQ activists has grown in Canada in recent years, evolving out of the anti-vax and anti-lockdown movements, and it has been courted by conservative politicians. Smith welcomed these activists at the United Conservative Party of Alberta Convention last year, where they passed policy platforms calling for these policies.
Anti-trans activists also passed policy platforms at the federal Conservative Party convention last year calling for bans on trans people using women’s bathrooms and restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth.
Neither the federal Conservative Party nor its leader Pierre Poilievre have addressed the platform since it was passed. Smith has been explicitly courting the radical right for the last several years, recently appearing in public events across the province with disgraced former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson, disgraced transphobic former University of Toronto professor and current social media troll Jordan Peterson, and convicted fraudster and former owner of the right-wing National Post newspaper Conrad Black.
Black was pardoned by then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
Canada
Liberal Party wins Canadian election
Prime Minister Mark Carney railed against US tariffs, sovereignty threats
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won the country’s federal election that took place on Monday.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation notes the Liberals won 169 seats in parliament, compared to the 144 the Conservative Party won. The Liberals need 172 seats for a parliamentary majority.
Liberal Bruce Fanjoy defeated Pierre Poilievre, an anti-LGBTQ MP from Ontario who is the Conservatives’ leader, by a 50.6-46.1 percent margin.
The Liberals last month elected Carney to succeed Justin Trudeau as the country’s prime minister. Monday’s election took place against the backdrop of growing tensions with the U.S. that stem from tariffs the Trump-Vance administration has imposed against Canada, and suggestions the country should become the 51st state.
“Our strength lies in our resolve to work together,” said Carney on Tuesday in a post to his X account. “United, we will build Canada strong.”
Thank you, Canada.
Our strength lies in our resolve to work together. United, we will build Canada strong. pic.twitter.com/uN6h4LUAEP
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 29, 2025
Egale Canada, the country’s largest LGBTQ and intersex rights group, earlier this year announced it will not attend WorldPride and other events in the U.S. because of the Trump-Vance administration’s anti-transgender policies and “economic warfare and threats to our national sovereignty.”
“Democracy thrives when people engage, and our voices are used in a way where we can say we voted with pride,” said Egale Canada on Tuesday.
“As the new parliament takes shape, we recognize that the journey toward equity and inclusion — especially for 2SLGBTQI communities — extends far beyond election day,” added the group in its post-election statement. “The work of understanding, addressing, and acting on the issues faced by 2SLGBTQI people must be ongoing, collaborative, and grounded in human rights and lived experience.”
Egale Canada said it looks “forward to working with all members of parliament, both newly elected and returning, to help build a Canada where every person is treated with dignity, where diversity is celebrated, and where all are equal — and none are other.”
Canada’s Liberal Party on Sunday elected Mark Carney to succeed Justin Trudeau as the country’s next prime minister.
The Associated Press reported Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, won with 85.9 percent of the vote.
Trudeau became prime minister in 2015 when he defeated then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was Canada’s prime minister from 1968-1979 and from 1980-1984.
The younger Trudeau is the first Canadian prime minister to have marched in a Pride parade.
Canada in 2022 banned so-called conversion therapy, which Justin Trudeau described as a “hateful and harmful practice.” Justin Trudeau in 2017 also formally apologized to Canadians who suffered persecution and discrimination under the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws — including those convicted of “gross indecency” before Canada decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations — and policies.
Justin Trudeau resigned as the Liberal Party’s leader in January.
Randy Boissonnault, a gay MP who represents Edmonton Center (Alberta), previously advised Justin Trudeau on LGBTQ issues. Boissonnault on Sunday applauded the outgoing prime minister.
“It was an honor to start this journey as part of the 2015 Class of MPs that you brought to Ottawa,” said Boissonnault in a social media post. “It was a privilege to serve as your Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues and then in your Cabinet to see first-hand the work you did everyday for Canadians.”
Carney will take office against the backdrop of growing tensions with the U.S. that stem from tariffs the Trump-Vance administration has imposed against the country. President Donald Trump has also suggested that Canada should become the 51st state.
“There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy,” said Carney after he won the election, according to the AP. “Donald Trump, as we know, has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell and how we make a living. He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses and we cannot let him succeed and we won’t.”
National elections must take place before Oct. 20.
Polls indicate the Conservative Party of which anti-LGBTQ MP Pierre Poilievre, who represents Carleton in Ontario, is the leader remains ahead of the Liberal Party. The gap, however, appears to have narrowed in recent weeks.
Canada
Canadian LGBTQ group cancels WorldPride participation over Trump policies
Egale Canada cites need to ‘safeguard our trans and nonbinary staff’
Egale Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, announced in a Feb. 6 statement that its members will not be attending any events in the U.S., including WorldPride set to take place in Washington from May 17-June 8, because of policies put in place by President Donald Trump.
The statement says the decision not to come to the U.S. resulted in its cancellation of plans to attend a meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women at U.N. headquarters in New York in March, at which it planned to discuss LGBTQ related issues.
“After deep consideration, we have decided not to engage in-person in this year’s Commission on the Status of Women or any other UN, OAS (Organization of American States) or global convergings, including WorldPride, taking place in the United States in the foreseeable future,” the statement says.
“This decision is foremost based on the need to safeguard our trans and nonbinary staff who would face questionable treatment at land and aviation borders to attend such convenings, and to stand in solidarity with global colleagues who are experiencing similar fear around entry to the U.S.,” the statement continues.
“It is also founded in the unique situation that has been thrust on Canadians (and citizens of other countries) regarding economic warfare and threats to our national sovereignty,” according to the statement. “We cannot in good conscience engage in a process of disentangling our organization from the U.S. goods and services (as we have recently released in a statement) and then proceed to travel to the U.S.”
The Egale Canada statement marks the first known time that an international LGBTQ rights organization has declared it will not come to the U.S. to attend WorldPride because of the controversial policies adopted by the Trump-Vance administration, which so far have included a roll back of programs and policies in support of transgender people.
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