:Intersex rights in Canada

[[File:Protection of intersex children from harmful practices.svg|thumb|right|260px|

{{legend|#002255|Legal prohibition of non-consensual medical interventions}}

{{legend|#0066FF|Regulatory suspension of non-consensual medical interventions}}]]

{{further|Intersex human rights|Intersex medical interventions}}

The definition of aggravated assault under Section 268 of the Criminal Code contains an exemption that explicitly permits surgical interventions to modify the characteristics of individuals to make them appear more typical:

{{quotation|Excision

(3) For greater certainty, in this section, “wounds” or “maims” includes to excise, infibulate or mutilate, in whole or in part, the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a person, except where

(a) a surgical procedure is performed, by a person duly qualified by provincial law to practise medicine, for the benefit of the physical health of the person or for the purpose of that person having normal reproductive functions or normal sexual appearance or function; or

(b) the person is at least eighteen years of age and there is no resulting bodily harm.|{{citation | url = https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-268.html | title = Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) | date = 2019-05-23 | access-date = 2019-06-01}}}}

For Intersex Awareness Day in October 2018, Egale Canada published a statement calling on the Canadian government to protect the rights of intersex persons, fulfilling "treaty body obligations under international law," and accompanied by a submission to the UN Committee Against Torture. The statement referred to Criminal Code [s. 268(3)], stating that it "allows for parents and medical practitioners to undertake nonconsensual, cosmetic surgeries on intersex infants".{{citation| last = Egale Canada| title = Egale Canada urges the Federal Government to meet domestic and International Human Rights requirements of Intersex People on International Intersex Awareness Day| access-date = 2019-06-01| date = 2018-10-26| url = https://egale.ca/egale-canada-urges-the-federal-government-to-meet-domestic-and-international-human-rights-requirements-of-intersex-people-on-international-intersex-awareness-day/}} Egale called on the Canadian government to:

{{quotation|* Investigate cases of intersex genital mutilation and other medical malpractices pertaining to non consensual, cosmetic surgeries on intersex children;

• Follow best practices with regard to providing free and informed consent, in compliance with its treaty body obligations;
• Make necessary amendments to the criminal code adopt legal provisions to redress and compensate victims.{{citation| last = Egale Canada| title = Egale's Submission to the UN Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) for Intersex Rights -| access-date = 2019-06-01| date = 2018-10-22| url = https://egale.ca/egale-submission-to-the-un-committee-against-torture/}}}}

In May 2019, the Canadian Bar Association called on the government to amend the Criminal Code, "to postpone genital normalizing surgeries on children until the child can meaningfully participate in the decision – except where there is immediate risk to the child's health and medical treatment cannot be delayed."{{citation| last = Canadian Bar Association| title = Re: LGBTQI2S Health in Canada| date = 2019-05-01| access-date = 2019-06-01 | url = http://cba.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=da2fdb2a-11ec-4420-9121-842e93db093d}}

On June 15, 2021, Egale Canada filed an application to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice challenging the constitutionality of Section 268(3)(a) of the Criminal Code.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-02-28 |title=The Push for Intersex Rights Recognitions in Canada |url=https://mjlh.mcgill.ca/2022/02/28/the-push-for-intersex-rights-recognitions-in-canada/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=McGill Journal of Law and Health |language=en}}

{{main|Legal recognition of intersex people}}

All individuals (intersex or not) with non-binary gender can obtain Canadian passports with an "X" sex descriptor.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/canada-third-gender-x-category-passports-ircc-male-female-a7918421.html|author=Ahluwalia, Ravneet|title=CANADA INTRODUCES 'X' AS A THIRD GENDER CATEGORY ON PASSPORTS|work=The Independent|date=29 August 2017}}

Since the passing of the Civil Marriage Act in 2005, marriage has been defined as "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others."{{citation | url = https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-31.5/page-1.html | title = Civil Marriage Act (S.C. 2005, c. 33) | date = 2019-05-23 | access-date = 2019-06-01}}

Notable intersex rights advocates in Canada include Janik Bastien-Charlebois{{Cite news| last = Bastien-Charlebois| first = Janik| title = My coming out: The lingering intersex taboo| work = Montreal Gazette | date = August 9, 2015| url = https://montrealgazette.com/life/my-coming-out-the-lingering-intersex-taboo}} and Morgan Holmes.{{cite news |first=Francine |last=Kopun |url=https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2010/04/30/neither_male_nor_female_the_secret_life_of_intersex_people.html |title=Neither male nor female: The secret life of intersex people |work=Toronto Star |date=April 30, 2010}}

• Intersex human rights
• LGBT rights in Canada
• Transgender rights in Canada
• Canadian values

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite journal| doi = 10.4000/socio.2945| issn = 2266-3134| issue = 9| pages = 143–162| last = Bastien Charlebois| first = Janik| author-link = Janik Bastien-Charlebois | title = Les sujets intersexes peuvent-ils (se) penser ?. Les empiétements de l'injustice épistémique sur le processus de subjectivation politique des personnes intersex(ué)es| journal = Socio. La nouvelle revue des sciences sociales| date = December 2017 | url = http://journals.openedition.org/socio/2945| doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite journal| doi = 10.7202/1025425ar| issn = 0838-4479| volume = 27| issue = 1| pages = 237| last = Bastien-Charlebois| first = Janik| title = Femmes intersexes: Sujet politique extrême du féminisme (Intersex Women, Feminism's Extreme Political Subject)| journal = Recherches féministes| access-date = 2016-09-05| date = 2014| url = http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1025425ar| doi-access = }}
• {{citation| last = Egale Canada| title = Egale's Submission to the UN Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) for Intersex Rights -| access-date = 2019-06-01| date = 2018-10-22| url = https://egale.ca/egale-submission-to-the-un-committee-against-torture/}}
• {{Cite book

| publisher = Susquehanna University Press

| last = Holmes

| first = Morgan

| author-link = Morgan Holmes

| title = Intersex: A Perilous Difference

| location = Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

| isbn = 978-1575911175

| date = 2008

}}

• {{cite book

|editor1-last=Holmes

|editor1-first=Morgan

|editor1-link=Morgan Holmes

|date=2009

|title=Critical Intersex

|publisher=Ashgate Publishing

|isbn= 9780754673118

|access-date=2016-05-21

|url = https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Intersex/Holmes/p/book/9780754673118 }}

• {{Citation| publisher = Intersex Day | last = Holmes| first = Morgan| title = When Max Beck and Morgan Holmes went to Boston| date = October 14, 2015 | url = http://intersexday.org/en/max-beck-morgan-holmes-boston-1996/ |access-date = 2016-05-21 |ref=none }}

{{Americas topic|Intersex rights in}}

{{Intersex}}

{{LGBT in Canada}}

{{Portal bar|Canada|LGBTQ|Human sexuality}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intersex rights In Canada}}

Category:Human rights in Canada

Category:LGBTQ rights in Canada