MR. SPENCER CHANDRA HERBERT

BILL M 228 – 2015

HUMAN RIGHTS CODE (RECOGNITION OF GENDER IDENTITY AND GENDER EXPRESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2015

This Bill supports the ongoing evolution of the term sex in Human Rights legislation by formally recognizing that the term is intended to include protection for Gender Identity and Gender Expression. This Bill affirms the rights of transsexuals, transgenderists, intersexed persons, cross-dressers, and other groups who routinely suffer discrimination based on the expression of their gender or the gender identity they experience. This Bill reaffirms the government or British Columbia's broad and inclusive approach to protecting the rights and dignity of all people.

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 The Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210 is amended by adding the following section:

Recognition of gender identity and gender expression

6.1  In this Act, without limiting the generality of the word "sex", for greater certainty, the word "sex" includes gender identity and gender expression.

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill supports the ongoing evolution of the term sex in Human Rights legislation by formally recognizing that the term is intended to include protection for Gender Identity and Gender Expression. This Bill affirms the rights of transsexuals, transgenderists, intersexed persons, cross-dressers, and other groups who routinely suffer discrimination based on the expression of their gender or the gender identity they experience. This Bill reaffirms the government or British Columbia's broad and inclusive approach to protecting the rights and dignity of all people.