Montreal's Pride Festival is just around the corner and people across the city are already decorating with rainbow-themed attire, stores are showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community, and most importantly the community itself is getting prepared for a week of celebration and recognition.
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This past Sunday a march through the downtown core was held to advocate the rights for trans people. Not only are trans individuals in Quebec looking for recognition during Pride week or during marches, but ultimately they are demanding that the government of Quebec respect their preferred labels when it comes to their children's birth certificate.
@wileyrilesYou may have thought Canada was totally progressive with it comes to LGBTQ+ issues, but that's not entirely true. The government of Quebec is actually being sued by Concordia University's Centre For Gender Advocacy. The lawsuit claims that the provincial government is violating human rights by refusing to respect the preferred pronouns of trans people.
For trans parents in particular, this reality can be incredibly painful to face. If someone has gone through transition since having a child, they are unable to change their label to "mother" or "father" on their child's birth certificate. This leads to discrimination towards both the trans parent and their child.
The fight for recognition hasn't been easy whatsoever for the trans community. Since bringing the situation to light during Montreal's march on the weekend, the entire LGBTQ+ community has been recieving hate and backlash.
The trial against the government of Quebec is expected to be in January of 2019. Until then, show your support for the Montreal LGBTQ+ community by attending the tons of events held during the Pride Festival this August 9-19.