Three gender choices soon
But parents wanting indigenous symbols
on children's birth certificates will have to wait
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, October 31, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents will likely soon be able to choose their gender on NWT documents but parents will have to wait a while longer before being allowed to use indigenous symbols in their children's names.
Shene Catholique-Valpy's daughter Sahaia, born Feb. 15, 2014, has been denied a birth certificate due to the Chipewyan symbol in her name. The territorial government says it is making changes but it is still a work in progress. - photo courtesy of Shene Catholique-Valpy |
Changes to the territory's Vital Statistics Act allowing people to change their gender or use a third gender designation on items such as birth certificates and driver's licences were expected to pass third reading in the legislative assembly this week.
Transgender residents will be able to identify as male, female or 'X' once the legislation has been amended.
The third designation is for people whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female.
Health Minister Glen Abernethy said the 'X' designation is a fairly simple process as would allowing for the use of a single name - also expected to be approved this week - on government identification documents.
He said those changes will likely come as early as April of next year. Debate over the 'X' designation was centered on whether a health-care professional had a say in determining a person's gender.
Under the new legislation, that will only be the case for people under the age of 18.
The Standing Committee on Social Development heard from several delegations at its meeting on Oct. 26 at the legislative assembly.
Coleen Canney, president of Yellowknife's Rainbow Coalition, said a doctor's opinion on a person's gender is irrelevant.
She said the decision should be left to the individual when trying to obtain a birth certificate, drivers' licence or health card regardless of their age.
Canney spoke on behalf of the coalition which represents the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth community.
Her speech came as MLAs pondered amendments to the act for the first time ever. The legislation lays out the framework for official identification requirements in the territory.
The law was first established in 2013 and is being updated to include and accommodate people who identify as a different gender than the one they were born with as well as those who identify with names that include indigenous fonts or symbols that are not in the Roman alphabet.
Canney wants politicians to make sure physicians don't have the final say on what gender a person identifies as.
"For any agency to place restrictions on a person's autonomy to control their identity is an invasion of individual human rights," she said.
Abernethy said he feels the amendments fall in line with that request.
"The third designation is for those people whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female," he said.
The gender identity fix is an easy one compared to the process involved in adding indigenous fonts to official NWT identification documents, the minister said.
"An example is a glottal stop that represents a sound in Dene for correct pronunciation of the name," said Abernethy.
"Implementing these amendments in our electronic information systems will present a significant technical challenge."
That glitch came to light in February 2014 when Yellowknife resident Shene Catholique-Valpy registered her daughter's name Sahaia, a Chipewyan word, using its traditional Chipewyan spelling.
But she was told by GNWT officials that she could only use the Roman alphabet for her daughter's name on her birth certificate.
Catholique-Valpy said she was mildly frustrated with the news that it is going to take some time to make the changes accommodating indigenous fonts but relieved to hear that it will eventually be done.
"As long as they say it's happening. We can't expect a big change to happen overnight," Catholique-Valpy said.
"Us being in the territory with 11 official languages - we have to stand by them."
Abernethy said the changes will be made but convincing the federal government it must do the same with documents, such as passports and social insurance cards will be another challenge.
Third and final reading of Bill 5: An act to amend the vital statistics act is scheduled for Oct. 31 in the legislative assembly.
