(Montreal) Minors wishing to change the indication of their gender on their birth certificate must provide a letter from a health professional approving their approach, ruled the Quebec Court of Appeal.
What there is to know
Minors who wish to change the designation of their gender on their civil documents will need to continue to provide a letter from a health professional.
The Court of Appeal nevertheless argues that Quebec is one of “the most permissive provinces in the country” in this matter.
The decision puts an end to a legal saga that began 10 years ago.
The judgment, delivered Thursday morning, favors the Attorney General of Quebec, thus putting an end to a legal saga that began 10 years ago.
In 2021, the Superior Court of Quebec invalidated the obligation for a minor aged 14 and over wishing to change the “sex designation” on their birth certificate to provide a letter of attestation from a health professional.
The requirement was opposed by transgender and non-binary rights groups, who filed their lawsuit in 2014.
Note that the change never took place, the appeal process suspending its application.
In his decision, Judge Gregory Moore argued that “only the person targeted by the request is able to affirm or confirm their gender identity.”
However, the current regulation “entrusts this power to the health professional who, very often, will have only superficial knowledge of this person”.
An argument rejected by the Court of Appeal.
The professional’s task, she emphasizes, is not to determine whether the change in the designation of sex is appropriate, but whether it meets the conditions listed in the regulation, namely:
- Gender designation most closely matches the applicant’s gender identity
- The applicant assumes and intends to continue to assume this gender identity
- He understands the seriousness of his approach
- He takes this step voluntarily and his consent is free and informed.
“Although limited, the role of the professional remains important in that it attests to the seriousness of the request,” underlines the judgment.
A not “unreasonable” requirement
The first instance judgment also mentioned the “practical and administrative difficulties” faced by a minor trying to obtain such a letter, particularly in the regions.
Furthermore, he noted that the requirement to provide a letter from a professional was not applied to adults.
This does not mean that “this requirement is unreasonable with regard to minors”, argues the Court of Appeal. “Moreover, there are many situations in our society where the treatment reserved for minors differs from that accorded to adults,” she argues.
Judges Geneviève Marcotte, Marie-Josée Hogue and Stephen W. Hamilton, who signed the judgment, concede that it may be “more difficult, in the region, to find a professional with sufficient knowledge of the transgender or non-binary reality”.
They note, however, that the list of designated professionals includes not only doctors and psychiatrists, but also social workers, sexologists and psychologists.
The decision underlines in passing that “Quebec is one of the most permissive provinces in the country”.
“Several provinces and territories require, in fact, that any minor who requires a change of sex designation provide a letter from one (like Quebec) or even two professionals. Some even impose this requirement on adults,” we read.
The right not to notify parents
Should minors have the right not to notify their parents of their name change? This is the other question on which the Court of Appeal was called to consider.
Judge Gregory Moore concluded that a parent’s right to object to their child’s request to change their name was “not discriminatory.”
An interpretation contested by the plaintiffs, on which the Court of Appeal agreed with them.
According to her, the article does not require minors to notify their parents when they request a change of first name to correspond to their gender identity and does not grant parents the right to object, since it This is a “compelling reason”.
“Certainly, changing one or more first names is not health care, but the evidence shows that the obligation to have one or more first names that do not correspond to our gender identity can cause many difficulties, including may arise from physical and mental health problems,” the judgment states.
“It would therefore be incongruous for the legislator to recognize that minors aged 14 and over have the right to consent to receive health care, but not to recognize them as having the autonomy necessary to modify a situation which may constitute a threat to their health. health,” he concludes.