Canada Reaches a Crossroads

Anti-rights activists have the LGBTQ2S+ community in their sights. What happens next will decide the future of minority rights in Canada.

A marcher holds up a sign at the August 2023 March for Trans Rights in Ottawa, Ontario. Author: Meaghan Derynck.

As anti-rights protesters took to legislatures and streets across the country as part of the “1MillionMarch4Children,” counter-protesters met them head on with a message — minority rights, especially the rights of LGBTQ2S+ minors — are not up for debate.

I choose my words carefully here: “anti-rights.” The crowd that showed up with vile, hateful signage and messages aimed at those who’d leave children to be who they are and to be called as they wish, dress up their claims as “parental rights.” Under this banner, they proceed as if children, protected under domestic and international law, don’t have rights of their own; they proceed as if the youngest within the LGBTQ2S+ don’t need the most protection from those who’d deny their identity and shame them for being who they are. They proceed as if the curious obsession over identity and sexuality isn’t their own.