Thursday, February 4, 2021

Florence Ashley writes for CBC News Point of View, about what led to Quebec's landmark Civil Code ruling. Ashley is a transfeminine jurist and bioethicist, originally from Quebec. They are currently pursuing a doctorate at the the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law and Joint Centre for Bioethics.

"In a long-awaited judgment released on Thursday, the Superior Court of Quebec delivered a major legal victory to trans people in the province. As a result of the decision, it will now be possible for trans migrants to change their name and gender marker without citizenship, for non-binary people to be recognized as such on their birth certificate, for trans adolescents to change their birth certificate without a letter by a mental health professional and for trans parents to have their gender recognized on their child's birth certificate.

Not every demand was granted: parents can still too easily object to their adolescent's change of name without change of gender marker, and newborns' birth certificates must have a gender marker without exception. We will have to carry on these fights in 2021 and onward.

Nonetheless, the ruling is an important win."

Read CBC News: Landmark ruling on Civil Code shows the resilience of Quebec's trans communities