Gender identity: Quebec committee wants more ‘rigor’ for hormone prescriptions

Faced with hormone prescriptions given too quickly to minors, the Committee on Gender Identity set up by Quebec suggests that assessments be carried out with greater “rigor” by interdisciplinary teams in order to “avoid excesses.”   

“We want to avoid, and I think the community agrees with us, doctors prescribing hormones to children after 15-20 minutes. For us, that’s unacceptable. It should never happen,” said Diane Lavallée, president of the Comité de sages sur l’identité de genre, at a press briefing Friday in Quebec City. 

She also admits that these are very rare cases. “But it’s enough to make us say, ‘Let’s put all the precautions in place to ensure our children receive the proper clinical assessment,'” she added.

“The science is quite clear”

Currently in Quebec, a young person from the age of 14 can be prescribed hormones without parental consent. 

The committee does not recommend changing the law to make parental consent mandatory, but says it is better if they are involved. 

“The science is pretty clear that when parental support is there, it makes a big difference,” explained law professor Patrick Taillon, who is also a member of the committee. 

According to Taillon, there is a “great disparity” in how doctors prescribe hormones to minors.   

How can this be explained?

“The phenomenon is still new. Then there are international standards that are very well written, well developed, but which are not necessarily always well known or which are applied differently,” explained physician Jean-Bernard Trudeau, who also sits on the committee.   

The Committee of Wise Men met with 220 people and consulted the scientific literature on the issue of gender identity to draft its report. 

In Dec. 2023, Families Minister Suzanne Roy announced the creation of the committee following acrimonious protests in Montreal over gender identity in schools. 

Controversies have also arisen over mixed-gender restrooms in schools and the labelling of a female teacher as non-binary.

The committee concluded that scientific knowledge on gender identity must be further developed and that the science is not unanimous on certain issues related to gender identity such as gender-affirming care for all age groups. 

“We need to harmonize practices,” said Lavallée. “Ensure that practices, whether it’s care, are better organized, safer.”

“The same goes for harmonizing practices and training in schools for young people,” she added. “I think it’s important, and what we’re saying is that the government must continue to take into consideration respect for the rights of trans and non-binary people.”

“We were still working on analyzing how they phrase and what they mean by lack of consensus,” said Lou-Ann Morin, Board member, Conseil Québécois LGBT. “Because it’s a surprising conclusion for us, considering there’s been decades of research. We know the research.” 

Celeste Trianon, a trans advocate and founder of the Juritrans Legal Clinic, says that the report is flawed, alleging it creates tension between the rights of trans people and women, notably in the context of bathrooms

“This report says that trans women should not be using the woman’s bathroom, at least implicitly, and tries to pitch, you know, the need for women to be protected from trans women,” she said. “Despite the fact that there’s practically no evidence of cis gender, so non-trans women being endangered by trans women in bathrooms. In fact, conversely, that anti-trans laws put trans women in particular in even more danger in bathrooms.”

The Quebec gender identity committee was tasked by Quebec’s Families Ministry in 2023 to produce a comprehensive overview and analysis of the policies, practices, and guidelines related to gender identity in the province and in comparable jurisdictions.

“The committee’s mandate is over,” said Lavallée. “We submitted the report to the minister yesterday, and now it’s up to the government to follow up on the suggestions we’ve made. For us, it’s over.” 

“There’s a lot of stereotypes that are used in that report which probably showed that the committee was not experts,” said Morin. “So at the end, yes, we are a little bit afraid on how this will be interpreted and used, because there’s a lot of gray zone also in the way from what we’ve read up to now, and we’re not sure how it will be understood by the government.” 

“A gang of transphobes”

The filing of the report provoked the ire of a small transfeminist group who demonstrated outside the room where the press briefing was to be held. 

He denounced a “puppet” committee, whose members were said to be “a gang of transphobes.” 

The group requested access to the press conference, but were refused, as it was reserved for journalists. 

“We are being screwed by a government of crooks who are hiding,” said Judith Lefebvre of the transfeminist movement.

The three members left chanting slogans when the police arrived. 

“My biggest concern is that this could lead to anti trans legislation,” said Trianon. “Things could get worse and very quick.”

“Currently there is a refugee crisis of trans Americans fleeing to Canada, claiming asylum here because of anti trans laws. Same is happening with folks moving from Alberta to BC from Saskatchewan to Manitoba because of anti trans hatred and legislation,” she added. “Is this a society we want to live in where people have to claim refugee status, have to flee their homes, have to abandon everything for the sake of being themselves? Is that the society we want to live in?”

—With files from The Canadian Press, first published in French and translated by CityNews