Canada Honors Transgender Activist Who Defunded Rape Shelter

Canada has honored transgender activist Morgane Oger with the Meritorious Service Medal fo
BC NDP/Flickr
Paul Bois

Canada has honored transgender activist Morgane Oger with the Meritorious Service Medal for being a “champion of diversity” despite previously working to defund the country’s oldest rape shelter.

Oger, a man living as a woman, received the medal from Canadian Governor-General Mary Simon on December 7 alongside several other Canadians who were honored for their “exceptional deeds.” Oger expressed gratitude for the honor of “furthering the legal protections of transgender Canadians.”

“[Oger] forged alliances across party lines that propelled changes to provincial and federal legislation protecting individuals against discrimination based on gender identity or expression,” read the award citation. “Her courage, vision and perseverance have helped redefine the fundamental issue of equality and have advanced inclusiveness for gender-diverse Canadians.”

Oger was chosen for the award in 2018, and it remains unclear as to why it took five years to receive it.

“It feels really, really, really nice. We don’t live in a day and age where medals come about very often, and the campaign to bring equality still has a lot of road ahead of us,” said Oger at the time.

According to the Daily Mail, Oger had been at the time “spearheading an effort to strip Vancouver Rape Relief of city funding because it refused to shelter transgender women”:

Vancouver City Council in March 2019 pulled its CAN$34,000 a year grant from 2020 unless the shelter, the oldest in Canada that began in 1974, changed its policy.

The shelter said being stripped of funding was ‘discrimination against women in the name of inclusion’ and accused the city of trying to ‘coerce us to change our position’.

Vancouver Rape Relief argued the women it sheltered didn’t feel safe around anyone who wasn’t ‘born female’ after being abused by their male partners.

Councilor Christine Boyle argued at the time that “trans women are women and sex work is work. Trans women and sex workers deserve care and protection.”

“I can’t support orgs who exclude them, so I won’t be supporting city funding for Vancouver Rape Relief,” said Boyle.

Councilor Sarah Kirby-Yung concurred.

“They have done fantastic work and are a valuable service, but we wanted to make sure they extend it for everyone. If we are giving public funds, we need to give it to organizations that are inclusive,” said Kirby-Yung. “I don’t want to live in a community that is not inclusive and reject people especially if someone is going through trauma.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.

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