Trans, non-binary people in Quebec still can't get accurate health cards despite law change

Piles of identification papers surrounded Celeste Trianon at the legal clinic she organized in Montreal's Village.

The documents belonged to trans and non-binary people, exasperated by the bureaucracy of changing their names and gender markers on provincial documents.

It's a frustrating exercise that many didn't expect to encounter after Bill 2 came into force in June of last year.

Since then, Quebecers have been entitled to use the X gender marker on birth and death certificates.

But a year later, the two government agencies that issue driver's licences and health-care cards say they are not yet able to print ID cards that identify people as non-binary.

Quebec's health insurance board (RAMQ) and the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) say they lack the authorization and the IT systems needed to add an X to cards to replace the M or F.

Trianon, an activist and law student, has been helping trans and non-binary people fill out and mail request forms with the hope of correcting their identification.

She says inconsistent ID cards could deter them from seeking health services in Quebec.

"Having correct ID is something that saves lives," she said. "People take it for granted if you're not a trans person or an undocumented person."

'It just turns you off from the whole system'

Quebecers who are waiting for the gender marker on their health-care cards to be changed are still eligible to receive health services with their current card until a new one is issued, said RAMQ spokesperson Caroline Dupont.

But for trans and non-binary people, having inaccurate cards means potentially being outed and called by their former name whenever they are asked to show identification, said Adele Teo, who visited the legal clinic Saturday.

"It just turns you off from the whole system. You don't want to deal with it," she said.

Teo said she once turned down treatment at the emergency room because a doctor repeatedly misstated her gender — even after she told them her health-care card was wrong.

"If they were going to misgender me like that, I feel like they didn't know how to help me," she said. "It feels discriminatory. It feels like they don't view my identity as valid."

Report on gender markers is in works, ministry says

CBC News contacted the minister responsible for the status of women in Quebec and asked what the delay was in allowing people to have a non-binary gender marker on their health-care cards and driver's licences.

Sylvie Leclerc, a spokesperson for the minister's office, said both the SAAQ and the RAMQ are part of ongoing discussions with a government committee, led by the Bureau de lutte contre l'homophobie et la transphobie, on implementing gender markers.

The committee last met with the agencies in June. It is expected to produce a report in the coming months, Leclerc said in an email.

Quebec's Directeur de l'état civil — the agency responsible for registering births, marriages and deaths — granted 1,253 requests for a change of sex designation between June 17, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

Of those, 398 requests were for a non-binary gender marker, spokesperson Jonathan Gaudreault said in an email.

As government bodies hash out logistics, Trianon said she will extend her legal clinic services outside the province to support more trans and non-binary people with getting proper ID.

Her next legal clinic will take place in Halifax, for the first time, on July 22 and in Quebec City on July 27.

"I just want to give people the ability to live their life normally if they wish, and having ID is unfortunately a prerequisite for that," she said.