Bill 29, the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, a law strongly supported by Premier Danielle Smith, has been approved in the Canadian province of Alberta to protection of women’s sports competitions and ensuring that athletes compete in women-only categories. Transgender people will be able to participate and compete in sports of their choice in dedicated categories. Based on government regulations, asports organizations will be required to identify eligibility criteria of athletes who take into account the new directives.
The news is also relevant because Justin Trudeau’s Canada has always been among the most trans-oriented nations.
The new law has been welcomed with great satisfaction by the Save Women’s Sports network. Also Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, welcomed the new legislation: “Very welcome news out of Alberta in Canada,” she wrote on X, “regarding the protection of the female category in sport.”
Premier Danielle Smith plans more legislative changes soon. One of the proposals concerns the ban on “affirmative therapies” (puberty blockers and hormones) for minors. Doctors would also be prohibited from performing “sex reassignment” surgeries on minors. Another bill would introduce the Mandatory requirement for parental consent up to the age of 16 for so-called “alias careers” and to change names or pronouns at school. Those who are 16 or 17 years old will not need authorization from their parents, who however must be informed beforehand. It will be family consent is also required to participate in school lessons on sexual education, gender identity and sexual orientation, and any instructional materials must be approved by Alberta Education before being used in the classroom.
Prime Minister Smith replied that These new laws are necessary to protect children and female athletes, arguing that it is not uncommon to place limits on the decisions children can make for themselves. “We don’t allow them to smoke, we don’t allow them to take drugs, we don’t allow them to drive. So we think that making a permanent decision that will affect your fertility is a decision that should be left to adults.” Smith added that in court the government will argue that parents have the right to make decisions until their children are old enough to do so for themselves.
Source: Alberta, Canada: è legge. Fuori i corpi maschili dagli sport femminili | FeministPost