Transgender allies gather in Calgary and Edmonton to rally against proposed government policies

Protesters gathered in both Calgary and Edmonton Saturday to support the province’s transgender community and express their dissatisfaction with new measures proposed by Premier Danielle Smith related to the province’s student gender identity, sports and surgery policies. 

In Edmonton, hundreds of activists, allies and members of the transgender community gathered at Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona.

In Calgary, more than a thousand people attended the protest in front of city hall.

Rowan Morris, who is with Trans Rights YEG — one of the groups behind the Edmonton rally, said the proposed policies are not only harmful to trans youth, but to the entire trans community in Alberta. 

“Knowing that there’s youth who are going to be growing up in an environment where they’re not safe, and knowing the statistics behind gender-affirming care, we’re here today because what is happening is absolutely not OK,” said Morris. 

Morris, who uses the pronouns he/him and they/them, said the Alberta he fell in love with when he moved to the province in 2015 has changed. 

‘A complete stifling of who we are’

“I felt like I came to my first day of high school and it was fine being new because everyone had been new before, everyone had been different before,” Morris said.

“But I don’t feel that anymore in Alberta today. I don’t feel this welcoming for people who are different. I don’t feel this appreciation for individuality. What I’m feeling right now is a complete rollback on trans and queer rights, and a complete stifling of who we are as people.”

Eddie Punko, who attended the rally in Edmonton, said he was devastated after hearing about the proposed policies. 

“There’s so many kids I work with [who] are so excited to explore their identity and grow up. But these kinds of policies make it really hard to think about even growing up and becoming an adult when it’s so hard to just exist as a person.”

Punko added that part of the reason he attended the rally was to spread joy amid uncertainty. 

“Whatever policies get put in place [that say] you don’t deserve to be safe, we’re all here to say that you do and that we love you so much,” he said, addressing the transgender community.

James Demers, a transgender man and organizer of the rally in Calgary with the group Queer Citizens United, said…