Ontario roller derby teams cancel trips to U.S., say 2-gender rule makes it 'unsafe' for some athletes
CBC
Some Ontario roller derby teams say they won't travel to the United States this year to compete because the current climate makes it "unsafe" for their athletes.
Teams in Waterloo region, Guelph, Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa have said they will skip bouts in the U.S.
On Sunday, Tri-City Roller Derby in Waterloo region issued a statement saying U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order recognizing only two genders — male and female — does "not allow the accurate reflection of gender expression on government documents."
Maggie Middleton, a skater and board member for Tri-City Roller Derby, said the decision not to go to the U.S. was made to protect team members.
"It was pretty clear from the get-go that people from various communities are becoming more and more unwelcome in the U.S., and then that was really solidified through the number of laws that were actually passed, the executive order etc.," she told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris.
"It was really actually quite an easy decision. Some of our skaters were not going to be safe, were not feeling safe, were not feeling confident about travelling," she added.
"If all of us can't go and feel good about it, then none of us are going to go."
Trump signed the executive order recognizing only two sexes on Jan. 20.
The order mandates that identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on "an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female."
Since 2019, Canadians who do not identify as female or male can list "X" as their gender on their passports. Ottawa says about 3,600 Canadians are using that marker.
Kaitrin Doll, a Tri-City Roller Derby athlete who also competes in Toronto, is completing a PhD dissertation on the experience of sexual and gender-diverse people in roller derby.
Doll said that as a skater who is transgender and gender queer, they appreciate the team taking a stand on travel to the U.S. and for team leadership to take the proactive step in making the decision.
"The reality is roller derby is a sport where we have had trans and gender-diverse inclusion since basically the inception of our sport. We are one of the only full contact sports that is crowned inclusive … that is an important ethos of our sport," Doll said.
"I know and love this team and trust this team. But I think it was an important decision for our leadership to make that centred the well-being of our skaters over competition."
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.