Lane MacIntosh is now able to have their birth certificate display a sex that is not male or female, after recent changes to the territory's Vital Statistics Act.
On July 28, the NWT became the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow a third sex on these documents. Human rights and LGBTQ advocates are applauding the change, yet questions remain about how this will affect identification issued by the federal government.
MacIntosh, who uses pronouns they, them and their, said they have the forms filled out to change their sex to an X, but is waiting to submit them until they get answers to how this will affect their ability to get a passport. Federal documents such as passports still require a male or female designation.
SA国际影视传媒淚'm young, I travel a lot,SA国际影视传媒� they said. SA国际影视传媒淚 shouldn't have to carry letters from my doctor that compare my IDs, I shouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to validate something that's already validated by the government.SA国际影视传媒�
Chelsea Thacker, executive director of the Rainbow Coalition of Yellowknife, said the options right now appear to be either choose not to have a passport or continue to use a male or female designator.
SA国际影视传媒淭hey might not have a passport, and they may not be able to leave the country if they have the X gender marker on their identification,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Nancy Chan, communications adviser for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the federal department in charge of passports, stated work is ongoing to add a third marker to Canadian passports and pther documents issued by the department.
For now, Chan stated individuals have the option to change the sex designation in their passport to male or female, whichever better reflects their gender identity.
She added the passport program has made changes to support identification documents that either don't display a sex, or have a sex designation other than male or female.
How these changes will affect entry into or transit through other countries cannot be guaranteed, Chan stated, as SA国际影视传媒渘ot all countries have the same values or legal systems as Canada.SA国际影视传媒�
Despite the possible complications in getting the feds to conform to the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 new rules, Thacker called the third option an important step toward equality. Previously, if someone wanted to change their designation, they would need to show medical proof that they had undergone gender reassignment surgery, something not all transgender individuals do.
SA国际影视传媒淎s we know, for trans people, having access to medical care, feeling comfortable talking to their doctors and actually going through the process and finding an LGBTQ positive medical professional is actually really hard,SA国际影视传媒� said Thacker.
MacIntosh took time to remember those in the territory who have faced anger, pain and hurt in order to make this change happen.
SA国际影视传媒淚t doesn't fix the big problems,SA国际影视传媒� said MacIntosh, citing high suicide rates, difficulty securing employment and continued discrimination for the queer and transgender community. SA国际影视传媒淎t least that one little thing happened today that, it keeps us going, it keeps that passion because it's easy to get burnt out, to get angry, to get defeated.SA国际影视传媒�
Charles Dent, chair of the NWT Human Rights Commission, said this change may cause some problems yet the hope is that other jurisdictions will catch up with the NWT.
SA国际影视传媒淚t may be an issue for somebody, if they try and get a passport,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut what this will do is it will put some pressure on the federal government to consider making the same sort of change. It raises the whole issue up the ladder a bit in terms of awareness.SA国际影视传媒�
Josh Bueckert, spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada, stated in an e-mail the department is in the process of including a third option for any sex or gender question included in documents, and making gender designations optional for social insurance documents and procedures.
Damien Healy, spokesperson at the health department, said since the changes to the act were announced, the department has not received any applications for name or sex designation changes.
Act allows for traditional names
Recent changes to the Vital Statistics Act also allow individuals to register a single name on their birth documents, as long as the name is based on their traditional culture.
Deneze Nakehk'o said the change is a long time coming.
SA国际影视传媒淚ndigenous people have had their own ways of naming people for thousands and thousands of years,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚t was probably in the last 50 years names were assigned to Dene people and Inuit people were not even assigned names, they were assigned numbers.SA国际影视传媒�
Nakehk'o changed his last name from Antoine, a surname assigned to his family, to that of his great-great grandfather, which means two fires.
He said while it is up to each person whether they want to take this step or not, for him it signified reclaiming one of the things taken from his family during colonization and residential schooling.
SA国际影视传媒淭here's a lot of very amazing, strong and powerful names out there and one of the reason why they were changed in the first place is because of the power and strength of those words and those names,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
Languages commissioner Shannon Gullberg said allowing a single name is a positive step, yet work remains to put in place technology for Indigenous fonts and to ensure people who decide to change their name will not have issues getting a passport.
Applying for a passport with a single name should not be a problem stated Nancy Chan, communications adviser for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the federal department in charge of passports. People who apply for a passport with a single name will have their name placed in the surname field, and the given name field will be filled in with SA国际影视传媒淴XX.SA国际影视传媒�
The health department stated work is ongoing to allow for Indigenous fonts on identification documents.
This is something Shene Catholique-Valpy, who is still waiting to have the Chipewyan spelling of her daughter's name on her birth certificate, has long called for.
The change is in line with the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, stated a news release from the health department.
Call to action number 17 asks all levels of government to enable survivors and their families to 'reclaim names changed by the residential school system' by waiving administrative costs for document revisions for five years.
Fees remain $125 for a legal name change according to the health department website.
