Human Rights, Transsexed Bodies, and Health Care in Canada: What Counts as Legal Protection?

Abstract

Antidiscrimination legislation is the vehicle most commonly used by communities to demand equality, but how should such law best be employed? In this article, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision in Hogan v. Ontario (Health and Long-term Care) is examined in relation to the removal of sex reassignment surgery from the Alberta Healthcare Insurance Plan in order to better understand the legal strategies designed to remedy different kinds of discrimination. This article argues that trans issues (involving people who identify as transgender, transsexual, or trans) ought not to be seen as additions to gay and lesbian issues legally or politically. Moreover, this article demonstrates that the fight for formal inclusion in legislation as a discrete or insular minority should be rejected by trans activists, as other legal strategies are better positioned to combat the processes of transphobia, thus potentially offering important steps towards substantive equality.