2016 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 40th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

MR. CHANDRA HERBERT

BILL M 222 – 2016

HUMAN RIGHTS CODE (RECOGNITION OF GENDER IDENTITY AND GENDER EXPRESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

This Bill supports the ongoing evolution of the term sex in Human Rights legislation by formally recognizing that the term is intended to include protection for Gender Identity and Gender Expression.

This Bill affirms the rights of persons who are transsexual, transgender, intersex, genderqueer, non-binary, and other groups who routinely suffer discrimination based on the expression of their gender or the gender identity they experience.

This Bill reaffirms the govemment of British Columbia's broad and inclusive approach to protecting the rights and dignity of all people.

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 1 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210 is amended by adding the following

definitions:

"gender identity" means a person's internal and individual experience of gender;

"gender expression" means how a person publicly expresses or presents their gender; .

2 The following

section is added:

1.1 In this Act, without limiting the generality of the word "sex", for great certainty "sex" includes gender identity and gender expression.

Explanatory Note

This Bill supports the ongoing evolution of the term sex in Human Rights legislation by formally recognizing that the term is intended to include protection for Gender Identity and Gender Expression.

This Bill affirms the rights of persons who are transsexual, transgender, intersex, genderqueer, non-binary, and other groups who routinely suffer discrimination based on the expression of their gender or the gender identity they experience.

This Bill reaffirms the govemment of British Columbia's broad and inclusive approach to protecting the rights and dignity of all people.

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