Gender justice groups say changes to B.C.s Name Act are harming survivors [Video]

Gender justice groups in British Columbia want the government to repeal recent provincial legislation that prevents people convicted of serious Criminal Code offences from changing their names.

The call for the repeal of the Name Amendment Act comes from groups that include Gender-Affirming Healthcare, the Canadian Bar Association’s BC branch and the Trans Legal Clinic.

The groups say the legislation was not necessary to protect the public and harms people most in need of legal name changes, including transgender and Indigenous people and survivors of gender-based violence.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix, who introduced the amended legislation last May, said then that the law will ensure people convicted of serious crimes, such as violence against other people and acts against children, cannot change their name.

The Premier’s Office says in a statement that it’s looking at the gender justice groups’ concerns, and that people deserve to be supported and …