When Conservative Politicians Tacitly Supported the 1 Million March 4 Kids ‘Protests,’ They Were Endorsing Transphobia
By stacy lee kong
Image: Shutterstock
Content warning: This newsletter contains references to transphobia.
I’m about to hit you with a lot of numbers, but stay with me, because there’s a good reason, I swear.
In 2019, the federal government polled Canadians about how comfortable they felt with LGBTQIA+ people in their lives, a move the officials characterized as “a preliminary assessment to better understand the challenges faced by Canada’s LGBTQ2 community,” Global News reported at the time. The results were overwhelmingly positive: 91.8% said they would be comfortable with a gay, lesbian or bisexual next-door neighbour, while 87.6% said they would be comfortable if that neighbour was trans. The poll also found that 90.5% of people would feel “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” with a gay, lesbian or bisexual boss, 88.2% would be “comfortable” with a gay, lesbian or bisexual doctor and 79.9% would be “comfortable” with a trans doctor.
More recently, Ipsos conducted its LGBT+ Pride 2023 Global Survey, which found 69% of Canadians support same-sex marriage, well above the 30-country average of 56% (though well below the Netherlands and Portugal, where support is the highest at 80%). The poll also found that 78% of Canadians agree that trans people should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing and access to businesses such as restaurants and stores, which aligns with the average opinion across all 30 countries surveyed.
I think we can all acknowledge that it’s pretty weird to ask people whether they think other people ‘deserve’ basic human rights. But, this data is actually quite useful; first off, it helps us understand how people think about, and are therefore likely to treat, the most vulnerable members of our society. (That is to say, these polls aren’t intended to be a referendum on whether countries ‘should’ or ‘should not’ support its LGBTQIA+ population as much as a temperature check.) And this week in particular, I think it helps demonstrate that the 1 Million March 4 Children protests held in 77 Canadian cities this past Wednesday don’t actually reflect most Canadians’ values—and that should immediately inspire us to ask why these people are behaving in this way. Or rather, who’s empowering them to do so.
There’s a reason the ‘parents’ rights’ crowd feels entitled to call for more control over their kids
And the answer, in a word? Conservatives. Specifically, conservative politicians, institutions and media. This year alone, several provinces have implemented policies informed by the so-called ‘parents’ rights’ movement, which the 1 Million March 4 Children protests belong to. These new rules are ostensibly about protecting parents’ ability to have a say in how their children are educated, which might sound fine on the surface, but what they actually do is restrict students from going by their chosen pronouns and names at school. They are really about controlling children, and denying them the autonomy to decide how they publicly identify and present. This is harmful for all kids, regardless of whether they’re trans, non-binary or queer themselves, because it revives and strengthens stigma. But it’s especially harmful for trans and gender nonconforming kids, because it potentially exposes those who only feel safe being their real selves at school to family who may not accept them—which, in the worst case scenario, also puts them at risk of real harm.
In May, New Brunswick’s provincial government announced it was undertaking a review of policy 713, which was introduced in August 2020 and designed to ensure the province’s schools were providing a safe environment for LGBTQIA+ students; one way it did so was allowing all students to go by their chosen pronouns and names and requiring teachers to get a student’s consent before sharing that information with their families. But this spring, Premier Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservative government said it had heard “concerns and misunderstandings of [policy 713’s] implementation” and pledged to officially review it. By June, the review was complete (so speedy! 🙄) and Education Minister Bill Hogan announced the changes: it would now be “forbidden to respect the chosen name and pronoun of a student under 16, even informally or verbally, without parental consent,” according to CBC. This wording was harsher than the actual text of the revised policy, and some of these changes have since been slightly tweaked after advocates pointed out they would violate provincial education, privacy and human rights laws, as well as children's Charter rights, but even so, the policy now functions in basically the opposite way than it was intended to.
In August, Saskatchewan’s conservative premier Scott Moe, leader of the right-wing Saskatchewan Party, announced his province would also be implementing a similar pronoun policy in schools. Now, students under the age of 16 can’t use their chosen name, gender identity or gender expression at school without parental consent. An anti-LGBTQ Christian group, Action4Canada, has taken credit for encouraging both provinces to implement these policies, though the Saskatchewan government denies its influence.
Meanwhile, conservative politicians in other provinces seem to be testing the waters with similar policies. In August, Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party leader Heather Stefanson promised her party would expand ‘parents’ rights’ if re-elected in October, though she isn’t specifying whether that would include a similar pronoun policy. Meanwhile, at a news conference in late August, Ontario’s education minister Stephen Lecce said, “I think we understand though that parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what's happening in the life of their children. I mean, often there are health implications, and I think we have to respect the rights of parents and recognize that these can be life-changing decisions, and I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids. And I think that's a really important principle that we must uphold.” Then, Lecce’s boss, Doug Ford, echoed these sentiments at Ford Fest earlier this month, saying, “It’s not up to the teachers. It’s not up to the school boards to indoctrinate our kids.”
Most recently, the federal Conservative Party overwhelmingly voted to adopt two anti-trans resolutions: a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth and a so-called “bathroom bill,” that would ensure “women [enjoy] the safety, dignity and privacy of single-sex spaces (e.g., prisons, shelters, locker rooms, washrooms) and the benefits of women-only categories (e.g., sports, awards, grants, scholarships).”
I know it’s common for the the fingers-in-their-ears, hands-over-their-eyes, “at least we’re better than America” crowd to claim that we don’t have anything close to the American Republican Party here, but this… sounds an awful lot like the extremist, transphobic policies that infiltrated the GOP under Donald Trump, no?
So… wtf is going on here?
Oh, and also—outside of government, the National Post recently published a fearmongering article about the ‘surge’ of trans kids being referred for gender affirming care, which plays on the same fears that the 1 Million March 4 Children organizers are trying to stoke… Especially when you read the story and realize this surge consists of 48 youth. While the article leads with the disturbing assertion that plastic surgeons are performing mastectomies on trans children as young as 14, it actually only cites a research project that found five 14-year-olds had been referred for surgery (I’m not clear if or when those surgeries actually happened) and interviews one surgeon who said the youngest patient they’d operated on was 14. And, just a couple of paragraphs later, it quotes a representative from Ottawa’s pediatric hospital, who says its Gender Diversity Clinic, “cares for 400 to 500 youth over the course of a typical year. In 2022, fewer than one per cent (0.9 per cent) of its patients, all between 16 and 18, were referred for surgery.” What’s more, as is the case with other pediatric hospitals, such referrals only happen after “years of assessment and treatment.” All of which is to say, the premise of the article makes it seem like kids are making ‘irreversible’ decisions about their bodies on a whim, which is simply not true. Furthermore, most of the treatments kids do get at this age—namely puberty blockers and hormone treatment—are either wholly or mostly reversible. And while the article does acknowledge that being denied gender affirming treatment can lead to “higher risks of anxiety, depression and attempted or completed suicide,” it also casts doubt on the policies that have been developed by experts in pediatric care to prevent those things from happening, and ensure trans and gender non-conforming kids have all the information and support their need to make the right decision for themselves.
(This also doesn’t even cover all the other ways transphobia has been slipping into mainstream reporting and cultural criticism recently, btw.)
That doesn’t quite add up, right? If most Canadians don’t want to see queer, and specifically trans people, face discrimination, then why are the right-wing leaders of four Canadian provinces, as well as the leader of the federal Conservative Party, leaning so hard into transphobia? And why are media outlets doing the same? Honestly, I think it’s both simple and mercenary: they’re using trans people, and especially trans and gender nonconforming kids, to score rhetorical or political points, garner clicks and frankly, distract from other issues… like, you know, wage stagnation, a cost-of-living crisis, rising housing insecurity, their own corruption. That kinda stuff.
As Xtra’s Dale Smith wrote last week of the Conservative Party’s decision to pass those anti-trans resolutions, and leader Pierre Poilievre’s deliberate silence on whether he’ll officially add them to the party’s platform, “this isn’t a decision he’s going to workshop around the caucus room and have vigorous discussions with his campaign strategists over because the mere existence of the policy, and the faux debate over it, are the point. This has always been about the dog whistle and sending a signal to the far-right voters that the party is hoping to attract in the next election under the notion that Conservatives aren’t ‘united’ and can’t win unless they are.” (Emphasis mine.)
This also explains why Poilievre instructed his caucus not to post or talk to the media about the 1 Million March 4 Children protests—or the much more popular counter-protests—that happened across the country this week. According to CTV News, the federal Conservative Party sent a memo to MPs ahead of the protests saying “protesters have ‘legitimate points to make’ about the issue of what it describes as ‘parental rights’” and suggested they repeat talking points he’s used previously when communicating with constituents—namely, his statement that “Trudeau should stay out of the provincial government's business and ‘let parents raise kids’” following the Prime Minister’s denouncement of New Brunswick’s review of policy 713. Poilievre’s office also pointed MPs toward his assertion to an ethnic media outlet that “parents should be the final authority on the values and lessons that should be taught to children.”
This is having an impact on public opinion, btw
To be clear, this isn’t a recent development. Anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment has been steadily rising for years now, often aided by conservative politicians and media outlets. In addition to pushing to reverse same-sex marriage legislation and refusing to attend any Pride Parade, ever, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper worked hard to block a bill that would extend human-rights protections to trans people. According to Vice, his government fought Bill C-279 for almost a decade, including drafting “one-sheeters”—literal one-page documents spelling out the party’s talking points about a particular issue, which MPs can refer to when they’re asked about a piece of legislation—to explain to the Conservative MPs who did support the bill why it was bad. (The bill did eventually pass, but was then “gutted” in 2015, thanks to three amendments from Conservative Senator Don Plett.)
The ‘parental rights’ movement isn’t new either; in fact, it’s been around for decades, and it has always been about denying LGBTQIA+ people basic human rights under the guise of protecting children (which is a classic conservative move, btw, even though right-wing extremists are actually all about exerting ownership over kids). Earlier this week, Mount Royal University’s Corinne L. Mason, an associate professor in the school’s Women's and Gender Studies department, and Leah Hamilton, vice dean, research & community relations in its faculty of Business & Communication Studies, explained that, “in the 1970s, conservative activists, including American musician Anita Bryant, used the rhetoric of parental rights and ‘protecting children’ to oppose protections for lesbians and gay men against discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment. Speaking at a public hearing on the issue, Bryant proclaimed, ‘Homosexuals cannot reproduce — so they must recruit. And to freshen their ranks, they must recruit the youth of America.’ … Around the same time, parental rights rhetoric was also used to stoke fear around feminist and civil rights gains, including abortion access and racial integration of schools.” Which is why it makes sense that today’s movement attracts not only conservatives, but also far-right extremists. (Which is why it’s important to note that the contemporary movement has also found supporters among racialized and Indigenous people—in fact, one of the organizations behind 1 Million March 4 Children, Hands Off Our Kids, is run by conservative Muslim activists, according to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.)
This is why we can’t be complacent: these organizers have decades of experience on their side, and this type of rhetoric is making an impact on a diverse group of people. In its 2023 report, Ipsos notes that support for LGBTQIA+ rights has “plateaued or declined in many countries over the past two years. Of the 23 countries Ipsos surveyed both in 2021 and this year, nine show a decline of 4 points or more in the percentage saying same-sex couples should be allowed to marry legally (Canada, Germany, the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Brazil, and Turkey).” While the majority of Canadians do believe trans people shouldn’t be subject to discrimination, the pollster characterizes support for other support measures as “lukewarm.” In Canada, only 58% say trans teenagers should be allowed to receive gender-affirming care with parental consent; 51% say trans people should be allowed to use public restrooms that correspond to their gender; 49% say passports and other government-issued documents should have options other than ‘male’ and ‘female’ for people who do not identify as either; and 40% say health insurance systems should cover the costs of gender transition no differently than the costs of other medical procedures. Hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ people are also on the rise—and while Statistics Canada doesn’t specifically track hate crimes against trans people, other research has demonstrated that trans people are four times more likely to be victims of violent crime than cis people.
Obviously, conservative politicians aren’t the only reason for rising transphobia in Canada, but I think it’s clear that the right-wing strategy of delegitimizing gender-related issues (i.e., pronouns, identification, gender-affirming care, etc.) by presenting them as unnatural, unnecessary or even just up for debate has been working. These overblown, rage-baiting narratives help tank broader support, which then allows conservative politicians to do real harm. I mean really—no parent is losing any right here. But kids definitely stand to, in truly horrifying ways.
So yes, what I said at the top of this newsletter is true. Most Canadians don’t support transphobic groups like 1 Million March 4 Children or conservative politicians’ transphobic policies. But if these groups are continuously allowed to normalize these hateful views, how long will we be able to say that’s the case?
Tonight: What Are We (Still) Doing Here?
Does anyone else feel like we're all basically marketers these days? Between building our personal and professional brands and promoting our work, creative or otherwise, it can feel like posting on Twitter, IG and TikTok is something we have to do. But, keeping up with social can also be a source of burnout—and straight up terrible for our mental health.
So, Friday Things and the West End Phoenix are co-hosting an honest conversation about the pros and cons of social media. Three super-smart panellists will be sharing their insight on building community, setting boundaries and learning how to give ourselves grace:
Niko Stratis, WEP's events and communications manager
Chason Yeboah, textile artist and soft sculptor
Steen Clores, strategist designer and co-founder of Patchwork Collective
The details:
When: Friday, Sept. 22 at 6pm
Where: West End Phoenix Central, 3 Bartlett Ave., Toronto
How Much: FREE
There are still a few seats available, so if you’d like to come, RSVP to stacy@fridaythings.com!
And Did You Hear About…
The one industry millennials aren’t being accused of killing.
This super smart article about the ‘anti-trafficking charity-celebrity complex’—which the writer says is imploding, but not before causing potentially irreparable harm to the kids it was supposedly helping.
Writer Nitesh Pahwa’s spot-on analysis of Hasan Minhaj’s ‘emotional truths.’
The Nation’s fascinating explanation for why so many houses these days look like… that.
My new favourite fashion influencer. (Also 🥹)
Thank you for reading this week’s newsletter! Still looking for intersectional pop culture analysis? Here are a few ways to get more Friday:
💫 Join Club Friday, our membership program. Members get early access to Q&As with pop culture experts, Friday merch and deals and discounts from like-minded brands.
💫 Follow Friday on social media. We’re on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and even (occasionally) TikTok.
💫 If you’d like to make a one-time donation toward the cost of creating Friday Things, you can donate through Ko-Fi.