One of the ways Egale achieves its mission, is by informing public policy and inspiring cultural change. On January 28, 2021, we did just that. Early in the day, the Quebec Superior Court released a long awaited ruling that is considered the most wide-reaching case to date in Canada for the rights of trans and non-binary people and their families. Egale is proud to have supported the Centre for Gender Advocacy as an intervener in this case, alongside LGBT Family Coalition and Gender Creative Kids Canada – thanks to pro bono representation from Davies. The ruling is one to be largely celebrated as it resulted in several significant wins advancing the rights of trans and non-binary people in Canada, regardless of citizenship. In the same note, one of the most significant changes is that non-Canadian citizens in Quebec have the right to change their names and sex designations, in the same manner of Canadian citizens. Other key holdings from the decision include: - non-binary people have the right to change their sex designation to something other than “male” or “female”;
- non-binary parents have the right to be designated on their children’s birth registrations as something other than “mother” or “father”;
- minors between 14 and 17 have the right to change their sex designations without an attestation from a health professional;
- if a parent changes their sex designation, their children have the right to amend their own birth registrations to change the parent’s title from “mother” to “father”, or vice versa, accordingly;
- people have the right to obtain birth, marriage, civil union or death certificates without sex being mentioned;
While it is important to acknowledge that we need to do more, especially where intersex rights are concerned, we’re incredibly proud of this achievement and thankful for the hard work and emotional labour from plaintiffs and the Centre for Gender Advocacy. We would also like to thank the legal teams who continue to take on these equity seeking cases on behalf of our community (pro-bono), and have done so for decades. For without their help, we wouldn't be where we are. To read our full statement, as well as accessing the complete Judgement Ruling, click the button below. | 
