Winnipeg Transgender Support Group

Xtra is reporting:
In what a London lawyer is calling a “game-changing decision,” the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has struck down a rule that required trans people to undergo “transsexual surgery” in order to change the sex category on their birth certificates.
Released April 11, the 95-page decision follows a challenge by one trans [...]

Highlights and commentary from GID Reform:
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) released it’s 7th Version of Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (SOC) in Atlanta today. The previous Version 6 was published in 2001. Overall, this newest SOC represents significant forward progress in respecting trans people [...]

Province of Manitoba news release:

May 5, 2011
NEW RULES WOULD MEAN CRIMINALS COULD NOT HIDE BEHIND LEGAL CHANGE OF NAME
– – –
Fingerprints Would Link Changes of Name to Criminal Records: Mackintosh
The province would provide police with greater certainty in the protection of all Manitobans by requiring applicants for changes of name to undergo fingerprinting, Family Services [...]

With the recent fall of the government Bill C-389 will not become law.
Mercedes Allen reports:
With [last] Friday’s election call, Bill C-389, An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) dies. … Bill Siksay confirms on his Facebook page that Private Members bills do not [...]

From Xtra:
Bill C-389, which aims to give trans Canadians explicit rights under the Human Rights Act and the hate-crimes provision of the Criminal Code, passed the House of Commons [Feb. 9] with a vote of 143 to 135.

The vote can be viewed here: http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/ParlVu/Cont…tEntityId=7240. It starts at the 4:31 mark (4 hours, 31 [...]

At its August 2010 meeting, the Canadian Bar Association adopted a resolution in support of Equality for All Regardless of Gender Identity and Gender Expression:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Canadian Bar Association urge the federal, provincial and territorial governments to review their legislation and policies, especially human rights legislation and hate crimes under the Criminal [...]

Title: Kate McDonald — Book LaunchLocation: McNally Robinson (Grant Park, Winnipeg)
Start Time: 19:00:00Date: 2010-06-14Description: Flying Blind (and getting there just the same): The Transitioner’s Handbook
Born into the middle sex, Kate finally put her foot down and said “That’s enough – time to remove all the confusion.” This is a handbook for anyone going through the [...]

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has just issued a new guideline document:
Protections from discrimination based on gender identity; Your Rights, Your Obligations identifies protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity under The Human Rights Code (Manitoba) in employment, services and housing.
It is posted on their website. There is also an article about [...]

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has released the first draft of the diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
The DSM is the standard reference used by professionals to diagnose gender identity issues.
There are a number of significant changes in the gender identity sections. Most prominently, it [...]

On December 18, 2008, the UN General Assembly was presented with a declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity signed by 66 countries, including Canada.
According to Wikipedia:
The declaration condemns violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also condemns killings and executions, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of [...]