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May 19, 2024 – 7:00 p.m.
A B.C. transgender woman has won the first round of a human rights tribunal case against the Ministry of Health, arguing that the difficulties she faced getting medical attention would not have happened to someone born female.
The case involved a transgender woman who sought to obtain funding from abroad for gender reassignment surgery, which was not available in Canada at the time. The funding was conditional on support from B.C.'s gender reassignment surgery experts.
According to a May 10 ruling from the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, Ms. KW, as she is referred to in the documents, was unable to complete the application because there were no such experts in British Columbia at the time. He claimed he was unable to get help from experts. State funding.
KW claimed that born women do not have this problem. That's because if you seek funding for the same surgery abroad, which is rare, you can go to a specialist such as a gynecologist to complete the application.
The Ministry of Health applied to the BC Human Rights Tribunal to dismiss the case.
However, the court rejected this move, saying that the Ministry of Health's policies and practices could constitute discrimination if they adversely affected a particular group.
The decision says KW was approved for funding for gender reassignment surgery in Montreal in 2017 through B.C.'s Health Services Plan.
However, KW said the surgeries available in Montreal were not optimal for her particular situation, and she tried to apply for overseas funding to have the surgery in Thailand.
According to the decision, Ontario and Saskatchewan are offering similarly situated residents surgery in Thailand.
But KW's problem arose when she tried to find “the right experts” to help her with her application.
At the time, there were no such specialists in British Columbia, so KW had a doctor in Thailand fill out the application. She told her the Ministry of Health had put her application on hold, saying it needed to be filled out by an expert from B.C.
KW asked her GP to write to the Ministry of Health and provide contact information for a specialist who could support her application. There is no mention in the judgment that any questions were answered.
When KW asked the Ministry of Health for the names of experts, the Ministry said it could not provide that information.
Ultimately, KW underwent surgery in Montreal.
The Ministry of Health claims that it did not discriminate against KW because it did not reject her because her application was incomplete and could not be processed.
The court said the Department of Health's arguments did not address a key issue in the case: that the department's own procedures created barriers for trans women that women by birth would not face. are doing.
Ultimately, the court denied the Department of Health's request to throw out the case and allowed the matter to continue hearing.
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