Thousands of People Rally at City Hall Against UCP Policy on Transgender Rights

An expected crowd of 2,000 gathered at City Hall in support of transgender rights in the province.

“We are seeing a massive rally of Albertans who are not being served by our government,” said Victoria Bucholz, one of the rally organizers. “These are teachers, doctors, parents.

“These are transgender people who are very concerned about the direction this government is going.”

The rally was directed against the UCP government, which recently introduced three bills affecting transgender people.

“They are going way beyond their mandate and we are telling them to stop these policies and start listening,” Bucholz said.

The rally will take place on the same day that the UCP held a vote for Danielle Smith in Red Deer.

Bucholz hopes the rally will highlight the voices the trans community wants to hear in politics.

“To sit down with the vast majority of the trans community and tell them that this is harmful and bring trans medicine back to doctors and patients and that it has no place in it,” she said.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi attended the event.

“Probably the same number of people gathered at the UCP convention who vote for the leadership of Danielle Smith. She made a terrible mistake,” Nenshi said. “She’s completely focused on her base instead of focusing on what Albertans really want.”

The rally also hopes to shed light on the state of health care and education in the province, as well as pensions.