'No intention of going backwards': Saskatoon council stands by transgender change room policies

Saskatoon city hall's council chamber was standing room only on Wednesday as delegates expressed their support or concern for how transgender people access change rooms at civic facilities.

Of the 22 people who took to the microphone during the monthly planning, development and community services committee meeting, 20 spoke in favour of maintaining the current policy, which allows people to choose the change room that aligns with their gender identity.

"As mayor I have no intention of going backwards or being a city that stands out by taking steps to become more discriminatory in terms of the policies we have," Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said at the conclusion of the matter.

The first speaker, former political candidate and right-wing activist Mark Friesen, was one of the two people who spoke in opposition to the current policy.

He said his message wasn't directed at the transgender movement, but at predators who would use the policy maliciously. He said transgender women could be offered a stall to change in.

Friesen's speech was met with a mixture of booing and applause. Committee chair Troy Davies told the crowd that neither was allowed.

Trans rights activists who spoke after Friesen said the current policy is safe and it would be unconstitutional to repeal it.

Blake Tait, a trans man and drag performer in Saskatoon, spoke in opposition to Friesen, stating that the current policy is a deterrent to violence.

"Transgender people in Saskatoon deserve the right to access facilities owned and operated by the city," he said.

"Those in opposition of this policy are fear mongering in a thinly veiled attempt to segregate and conceal transgender people from public life in Saskatoon."

Others — men, women, children and mothers — followed behind Tait in support of the policy, referencing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and contesting the idea that the current policy is a threat.

One speaker, Alexander Edmunds, said they received death threats in response to their advocacy for maintaining the policy.

Zipp Neufeld, a 10-year-old non-binary person, urged council to allow transgender people to access change rooms they need.

"At what point do I go from being someone you protect to someone who is a threat? Not based on my heart or any of my actions, but just based on my genitalia, and your ignorant ideas of what you think who I am means," they said.