As duelling protests took place in Canadian cities over the issue of gender ideology in schools, a
new survey from the Angus Reid Institute revealed that most Canadians support a middle ground: They favour equality and accommodation for trans people, but generally don’t believe men can self-identify as women.
Of respondents, just 35 per cent agreed with the sentiment — now enshrined via a latticework of federal and provincial laws — that “anyone who wishes can identify as a woman.” About the same number (34 per cent) sided with the notion that women are only those “who were born with female genitalia.”
Another 18 per cent were comfortable with the idea of men legally becoming women, but only if they changed their genitalia through surgery.
These results suggest that a slim majority of Canadians (52 per cent) are not on board with a recent spate of Canadian legal reforms upholding the principle of gender self-ID; the notion that only a personal attestation is necessary for a Canadian to begin living as a member of a different gender.
Right up until the early 2010s, Canadians generally needed a doctor’s note or proof of sex-reassignment surgery to be legally recognized as a different gender. But by 2017, a spate of tribunal decisions and
policy updates had made self-ID the rule on everything from applying for a passport to
playing for Team Canada.
The Angus Reid survey, which was released Sept. 19, also found a clear majority of Canadians opposed to the adoption of “gender neutral” terminology, particularly when it came to issues such as menstruation or childbirth. For instance, it is now standard for Canadian public health agencies to use the term “
pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women.” Select health agencies have also adopted the term “chestfeeding” as a synonym for “breastfeeding.”
Angus Reid found that 67 per cent of respondents objected to this trend, agreeing with the statement that it “devalues the female identity in society.” Even among under-34 women — usually the group most accepting of gender-neutral language — 50 per cent were opposed.
“For these issues that focus specifically on female identity, motherhood, and birth, there is little appetite for gender-neutral language,” concluded pollsters.
A similar proportion were also opposed to a new trend of attached pronouns (ie: he/him, she/her) to one’s name in emails, social media posts or even in in-person introduction. While this is not mandatory among federal civil servants, it is encouraged and increasingly common, with the Department of National Defence even
officially observing “International Pronouns Day” every Oct. 15.
Of Angus Reid respondents, 66 per cent disagreed with the statement “everyone should put their pronouns in their social media profiles.”
Meanwhile, that same survey identified several clear indicators that respondents were personally welcoming of trans identities among their social circle, and believed transgender Canadians faced disproportionate rates of discrimination.
More than two thirds (71 per cent) said transgender Canadians “face a lot of discrimination in their daily lives,” while 69 per cent said that if their child identified as transgender, they would affirm the new identity.
Skepticism returned, however, when it came to the issue of hormone therapy in minors; 63 per cent were against it, with opposition rising depending on how young the child was.
The new survey fits into a broader theme that has been showing up in Canadian polling data for at least the last five years: A broad consensus of Canadians want transgender Canadians to live lives of legal equality free from discrimination, while at the same time being leery about issues such as biological men in women’s spaces, or gender surgery for minors.
As far back as 2016, Angus Reid found
more than 80 per cent of Canadians supporting the addition of gender identity to the country’s anti-discrimination laws, but respondents were more skeptical of a push to have transgender people use washrooms and change rooms that accorded with their gender identity, rather than their biological sex....
thebridgehead.ca
nationalpost.com
