Happy Pride Weekend: Cherish our Freedoms in Canada while Hungary cracks down on Pride; Trans kids aren't just here to be abused by their parents, rules Alberta court

Pride march in Budapest on Saturday

Thousands marched in the streets of Budapest this weekend in defiance of corrupt conservative dictator Viktor Orban, favourite strongman of Donald Trump and Stephen Harper.  

It was a true Pride protest targeting Orban's crackdowns and anti-gay laws which banned such parades earlier this year in a clear crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a national election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger.

As Toronto Pride parades launch this weekend, I can't help but think of my sisters and brothers in Hungary, or any part of the world where such public signs of affection between queer people including parades like ours are banned by intolerant and misguided governments.  

Bravo to the queers standing up for their rights amidst despicable government power!  

Right here at home, we had a victory of sorts out of Alberta this week when a court ruled that Premier Danielle Smith's draconian law banning all gender-related medical care for trans youth should be put on hold.  

"Justice Allison Kuntz, in a written judgment Friday, said the Alberta law raises serious issues that need to be hashed out in court, and issued a temporary injunction against the law before it fully came into effect.

Trans rights flag held at Ottawa rally this year 

"Kuntz wrote that a temporary stop is needed to prevent what she calls "irreparable harm" coming to young patients while the issue is debated.

"The evidence shows that singling out health care for gender diverse youth and making it subject to government control will cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth by reinforcing the discrimination and prejudice that they are already subjected to," Kuntz wrote in the judgment.

When weighed against parents' rights to control their children before they're 18, even to force them to live lives they can't lead authentically, it seems heartless and abusive to use government power to enact a one-size-fits-all policy for all trans youth.  In many cases, for the sake of the health of the youth, trans-related health care is very necessary to help the child survive.   

Opposition to trans youth freedoms is grounded in the same sort of ignorance that used to demand all gay and lesbian youth stay closeted and sexually inactive in their teen years because they didn't want us to do anything we'd "later regret".  As if being gay and young was only just a phase, and that youth who think they are non-binary or actually another gender are just having a flight of fancy that can be ignored until they're 18. 

No, ignoring the problem and burying your head in the sand, Danielle Smith's solution for everything, is not the way to go.   

"The law, passed late last year but not fully in effect, would have prevented doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under 16.

"Kuntz wrote that denying access to this care not only risks causing youth emotional harm but also exposes them to permanent physical changes that don't match their gender identity.

"Intentionally or not, the ban will signal that there is something wrong with or suspect about having a gender identity that is different than the sex you were assigned at birth," she wrote.

"Gender diverse youth will bear the entire burden of that speculation."

"2SLGBTQ+ advocacy groups Egale Canada and the Skipping Stone Foundation took the case to court, and in a statement Egale said the decision was a "historic win."