Heather McPherson statement on Transgender Day or Remembrance
NDP leadership candidate Heather McPherson made the following statement:
“Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance.
While we grieve and honour the trans lives lost to violence, discrimination, and hate, we should be making progress toward a safer, more inclusive country. Instead, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is attacking trans kids.
It’s horrifying.
So, as we remember the individuals whose futures were stolen, it’s the responsibility of allies to not just stand in the background, but to be loud and fearless advocates for our most vulnerable.
Political leaders in our country are targeting kids, for being themselves. Our voices, those of trans people, allies, and community members have to be louder to drown out the hate.
We need to work with the trans community to develop strategies and support models, demand universal access to gender-affirming healthcare including mental-health supports, ban forced outing policies, strengthen human-rights enforcement, and improve hate-crime tracking and prevention.
Legal transition should be free of fees, require no medical letters, and support easy name and gender-marker changes across all documents.
To every trans person in Canada: you deserve safety, dignity, and the freedom to live your life as your authentic self, and I will never stop fighting for this – whether that be as a Member of Parliament, as an ally member of the Parliamentary Pride caucus, or as the NDP leader.
We all have a responsibility to look out for one another. To create a world where everyone can happily be who they are, without judgment or fear.
Today and every day: we mourn, we honour, and we fight for justice.”