Trans rights activists marching in the 2013 Dublin gay pride parade. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Optimism that this time would be different, and the bill would finally become law, was finally snuffed out in a half-hour period on Wednesday evening, as a particularly ornery Conservative Senator injected something so blatantly discriminatory into the bill that just about every trans person in attendance got up and walked out."In respect of any service, facility, accommodation or premises that is restricted to one sex only—such as a correction facility, crisis counselling facility, shelter for victims of abuse, washroom facility, shower facility or clothing changing room—the practise is undertaken for the purpose of protecting individuals in a vulnerable situation."That's the language of Senator Plett's amendment. "The practise" refers to discriminating against trans people—the very thing the bill is designed to prevent. It, in effect, would protect those who discriminate in any way against trans people, so long as they're in a washroom, or a change room, or any of the other places described by the amendment.VICE interviewed Plett last June about his fervent insistence that affording trans people the same human rights protections as religious and sexual minorities would somehow normalize sexual assault and pedophilia."The pedophiles, the Chris Hambrooks of the world, can use this law to their advantage," he said.Chris Hambrook was a man who tried to enter a women's shelter by claiming to be transgender. The shelter denied him entry and reported him to the police. He was later sentenced to jail indefinitely for various sexual assault charges. A provincial law that does the exact same things as C-279—the things that Plett maintains would protect Hambrook—did not apply.
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