P.E.I. transgender man applauds federal bill aimed at ending discrimination

Activist Jesse Macmillansays he'sfeeling hopeful after Tuesday's introductionof a new federal bill aimed atprotectingtransgenderCanadians against discrimination.

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Macmillan,a transgenderman who sitson the board of Pride PEI, said peoplewho transition oftenface discriminationand sometimesviolence.

"I've been lucky," Macmillan said."but I know friends who will have trouble getting jobs. They'll just not feel safe in their own skin, not feel safe walking around the streets at night."

Bll C-16, tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, would protect gender identityas a human right, offering legal protectionfrom discriminationfor transgender people.

It'll make people feel a lot safer.- Jesse MacMillan, transgender activist

Prince Edward Islandalready has legislation in place, Macmillan said,making it illegal to discriminate based on gender identity. However, he saidfederal protection is still necessary.

"So now that there, hopefully, will be protection, then ...the country will be safer for trans people."

The federal bill has been in the works since 2004 and has stalled numeroustimes, with opponentssaying that extendinghuman rights protections to transgender people would make it easier for predators to prey on children in public washrooms.

"If people are worried about people being assaulted in bathrooms," Macmillan said,"trans people are more likely the ones who are going to be assaulted, and there has never been a case of a trans person assaulting somebody in a bathroom.

"I mean, there's a good chance that everybody has shared a publicbathroom with a trans person and didn't even know."

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There are studies showing thattransgender people are much more likely to be attacked than other Canadians.

A survey conducted by Trans Pulse Project in 2010 showed that out of the almost 500transgenderrespondents in Ontario, 20 per cent reported having been physically or sexually assaulted, though not all of them reported the assaults to police.

The respondent-driven sampling survey found 13 per cent reported being fired and 18 per cent refused a job because they weretransgender, situations Macmillan hopes will not happen once this legislation is enacted.

"It'll make people feel a lot safer."

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