Queer advocacy group asks mayor, council to declare Calgary a sanctuary city

Queer Citizens United has asked Calgary to not cooperate with recent provincial amendments to health, education and social practices that the LGBTQ2 community calls discriminatory.

A queer advocacy group is calling on Calgary’s mayor and city council to declare the city a queer rights sanctuary city, which would limit compliance with the province’s new policies and controversial legislation.

In a letter obtained by Global News to City Hall, Queer Citizens United has asked the municipal government to restrict all cooperation with recent actions taken Premier Danielle Smith and the Alberta Legislature, pertaining to several new provincial policies and legislation.

Those policies and legislation include, but not limited to, recent amendments to health, education and social practices the LGBTQ2 community calls discriminatory.

Victoria Bucholtz with local group Queer Momentum says the call for action an unprecedented but necessary step.

“Especially because the current climate in which queer and trans people’s rights are being trampled by government officials and very discriminatory policies as well as the social climate that is noticing a huge uptick in hate crime incidences specifically targeting the queer and trans communities,” said Bucholtz.

In recent months, the province has limited access to hormone therapies, mandated parental consent for pronoun changes in schools, and restricted trans athletes from playing female sports.

Amelia Newbert, co-executive director with the Skipping Stone Foundation, said this is an essential step for the city to take — calling the support from the province for queer and trans people “non-existent.”

“One of the biggest things we’re hearing from our community, from the trans folks that we serve, is a sense of hopelessness — a sense that nobody has their back,” Newbert said.