Think, for a minute, about the human rights that you, personally, hold dear.
Some rights are important to virtually all of us, the right to life, for instance, or the right not to be arbitrarily detained by police. But other rights are more important to some people than to others, freedom of religion, for instance. And as shocking as it is to most Canadians, not everyone in Canada, and certainly the world, yet supports the fundamental right of equality between the sexes.
Now, keeping in mind the rights that you care about for yourself, consider the photo of the lovely young girl above, Comox resident Harriette Cunningham, who, not that it’s really any of our business, was born with a male body.
The current push to extend rights to what we will generally call the “trans community” is simply the historical advance of rights that we all should hold dear whether they apply to us or not. No one can argue persuasively against laws that protect citizens from discrimination for the fundamental attributes that make each of us unique human beings, such as our gender, our race, our age or our sexuality.
So how can anyone seriously question the right of people who doctors agree were born with what is essentially a correctable birth defect to live with the correct gender?
It’s fabulous that trans rights are being recognized by the B.C. government, including things as basic as ensuring people like young Harriette are issued corrected birth certificates so they can enjoy what we all want — lives with dignity.
Editorials are unsigned opinion pieces that represent the views of The Province editorial board, a group of senior editors.