Trans(gender) in Alberta? Funding Denied, Fired, Forgotten (Part 1)

12- 1:30pm Transgendered persons in Alberta face significant discrimination as a result of their gender identity. The Alberta government decided last year to stop funding gender reassignment surgeries, a move that the Ontario government has had to retract after losing at a number of human rights tribunals. In St. Albert, substitute teacher Jan Buterman was fired when he revealed he was transitioning from a woman to a man. The Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board will soon be facing the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal on Buterman’s complaint. These two cases are high profile but much of the discrimination against trans people is less blatant and can be traced to the lack of public understanding of gender, generally, and trans(gender) specifically. Mickey Wilson works to educate the public and advance equality for queer and trans people. His presentation will explore some of the misconceptions about gender and what it is like to be trans or queer in Alberta. Speaker: Mickey Wilson For over 25 years, Mickey Wilson has focused much of his time and energy on activism and education surrounding trans and queer issues in Alberta. He founded Edmonton’s first trans support group, provides peer education, does workshops and presentations and develops educational materials. Active in a variety of organizations, Mickey is the Vice President of Egale Canada and chair of their national trans committee as well as President of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge & Area. Mickey is passionate about justice and committed to advancing equality and human rights for queer and trans people. He is a retired minister, having served a church in Edmonton''s LGBT community for 14 years. Mickey is married to a bisexual man and they live in a village south of Lethbridge where he now operates a small business.