TREATY ONE TERRITORY, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – September 28, 2023 – In the face of rising hate and division, The Green Party of Manitoba is proud to support a vision for society that is inclusive and welcoming to all human beings regardless of gender, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation, ability or disability, skin colour, ethnicity, culture, religious belief or political philosophy. Our society is enriched by diversity of people and ideas, and Respect for Diversity is one of the six core principles of the Global Greens and of all green parties around the world, so the GPM is proud to stand up in support of every person’s right to determine how they express their identity, and to work towards a world where everyone values one another as they are.
All human beings have the right to free and equal dignity, to an education, to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and of one’s family, including access to clean water, adequate food, housing, medical care and necessary social services. We know that is not true for all Manitobans and we need to change to meet the needs of ALL Manitobans.
As Greens, we trust decades of sound scientific research and the shared lived experience of our Trans, Queer and Two-Spirited relatives, that 2sLGBTQIA Identities are real, natural, and beautiful; and that supporting a child’s identity starts with the child and ends with the child – and only involves those others whom the child chooses to share with. We support 2sLGBTQIA+ youth in determining what is right for them and when if ever it is safe to discuss identities with their caregivers. We support the protections for student privacy under the Education Act as it stands.
We call on all Manitobans to resist name-calling and acts of hate against 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and indeed against all vulnerable people. We call for unity in the face of some choosing to “other” one another, as we educate ourselves and society for understanding.
The Green Party of Manitoba recognizes that 2sLGBTQIA+ rights are human rights, and will work within our political and social networks to ensure these and other basic human rights, including Indigenous rights, are respected — through sufficient funding for education, acting on the MMIWG2S 241 Calls for Action, ensuring healthcare is equitable, accessible, and affirming; implementing a Basic Income Guarantee, enacting all the Truth and Reconciliation Recommendations, and ensuring Manitoba and Canada ratify and implement the 46 articles of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
By fostering open communication within and between our citizens and communities via proportional representation and citizen assemblies, we can and will create a renewed, more diverse, human rights-focused democracy.
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FOR INQUIRIES OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS PLEASE CONTACT:
Janine G Gibson
Leader, Green Party of Manitoba
info@greenparty.mb.ca
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Backgrounder on Green Policies supporting 2sLGBTQIA+ Manitobans:
- Manitoba Greens have long supported 2sLGBTQIA+ rights, including being among the first parties to call for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
- In a May 31st, 2023 Press Conference, the GPM announced several new policies in support of 2sLGBTQIA+ Manitobans. This press conference can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1113834822919384&ref=sharing
- The Policies in question, which can be read online at https://greenparty.mb.ca/our-policies, include:
- Education-AIDS Education: Amending MB Curricula to include accurate historical accounts of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic;
- Education-Book Bannings: Asserting the right to freedom of information by protecting the inclusion of 2sLGBTQIA+ Literature in Schools and Libraries and condemning book-banning efforts;
- Education-Sex Education: Expanding sex-education curricula in Manitoba to include improved information on accessing abortions and birth control and on safety in 2sLGBTQIA+ relationships;
- Healthcare-Prohibiting Sex-Normalizing Procedures: Protecting Intersex Minors from being non-consensually subject to “sex-normailization” surgeries;
- Human Rights-2SLGBTQIA+ Refugees: Implementing a plan to accept 750 2sLGBTQIA+ Refugees to manitoba by 2028 and advocate to the federal government to repeal the Safe Third Country Agreement;
- Human Rights-Barriers to Transition: Removing unreasonable legal, financial, and medical barriers in the gender transition process such as removing fees for change of name and change of sex marker on ID documents, full coverage under Medicare and Pharmacare for gender-affirming treatments, better training for all GPs and NPs on Gender and Sexuality, and increased accessibility to gender affirming healthcare services across Manitoba;
- The Policies in question, which can be read online at https://greenparty.mb.ca/our-policies, include:
- The Green Party of Manitoba, like every green party in the world, supports and is bound by the Global Greens Charter (https://globalgreens.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/GlobalGreens_Charter_2023.pdf) Which, in article 6.16, includes calls for vast protections for 2sLGBTQIA+ individuals in all global jurisdictions.