Achi news desk-
At the Juno Awards in Halifax on Sunday night, Calgary pop duo Tegan and Sara received a standing ovation after speaking out against the Alberta government’s proposed policies that would affect transgender youth.
“If the world wasn’t so hostile to 2SLGBTQ+ people, we’d just see ourselves as musicians,” Sara Quin told the crowd as she and her sister accepted the Juno Humanitarian Award for their work advocating for LGBTQ2 people . “Advocating for the rights of our community is a great privilege, and we are committed to confronting any form of discrimination that threatens the well-being of our community.
“Like the Alberta government’s attempt to prevent trans youth from accessing essential care.”
Tegan and Sara receive the humanitarian award at the Juno awards, in Halifax on Sunday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
The award was presented to Tegan and Sara by actor Elliot Page.
Page, the Oscar-nominated star Juno, A beginning a The Umbrella Academycame out as transgender in 2020.
Elliot Page embraces Tegan and Sara as they accept the humanitarian award at the Juno awards, in Halifax on Sunday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
This winter, Premier Danielle Smith announced a broad new set of proposed policies via social media that would affect transgender youth in Alberta.
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She said her government intends to introduce policies that require parents to be notified or to give permission to their children who want to change their names or pronouns at school.
He also said Alberta plans to introduce restrictions related to hormone therapy and surgery for transgender youth as well as new rules governing who transgender athletes can compete with in sporting events.
Smith also announced that her government will aim to ensure that there are more doctors in Alberta with expertise in gender confirmation procedures and the care that people who have those procedures need.
On Sunday, Global News reached out to Smith’s office to request a statement in response to Tegan and Sara’s speech at the Juno Awards.
“The government is introducing these policies across multiple ministries to preserve the choices children and young people have before making adult decisions that could change their lives and often irreversibly,” wrote Sam Blackett, press secretary of the premier, in an email. “To reaffirm our support for the transgender community, we are also providing additional support to assist transgender adults in securing the health care they need such as bringing medical professionals who specialize in transgender care to Alberta.
“We are also developing a private registry of medical professionals who specialize in this area to make it easier for transgender Albertans to access the treatment and medical care they need. In addition, we are developing a counseling pilot project to help young people who identify as transgender and their families to work through issues and discussions that are often difficult and complex.”
Tegan and Sara are identical twins, born and raised in Calgary.
On Sunday night, Tegan Quin described some of the recent policies proposed in some Canadian provinces as “a movement against trans youth.”
“We shouldn’t be complacent,” he said.
“We should step up. … I also think we have a voice to remind our government that we should focus on more important things like climate change, the fentanyl crisis, the housing crisis.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
