Fri, April 10, 2009
Transsexuals gear up for fight
UPDATED: 2009-04-10 02:26:05 MST
Decision to cut funding for sex reassignment surgery appears bound to fail in courts
By ANDREW HANON
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2009/04/10/9075496-sun.html (http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2009/04/10/9075496-sun.html)
EDMONTON -- "This," says Kris Wells, "could be the next Vriend case."
The provincial government is about to drag all Albertans into yet another costly, shameful and needless legal battle -- this time over the decision to stop funding sex-change surgery.
And like the landmark Delwin Vriend Supreme Court case that forced Alberta to protect gays in its human-rights legislation a decade ago, or former premier Ralph Klein's pigheaded -- and ultimately futile -- fight with Ottawa over same-sex marriage, this is one the government cannot win.
After all, last year Ontario was forced to reinstate funding for sex-change surgery after losing a human-rights case.