Students and LGBTQ2S+ activists are speaking out over anti-trans University of Winnipeg talk

Students and LGBTQ2S+ advocates are raising the alarm about an upcoming talk at the University of Winnipeg that looks to repeat anti-trans talking points.

Joanne Boucher, a political science professor, is due to present a talk on Friday called “The Commodification of the Human Body: The Case of Transgender Identities.” The event description says it will “focus on the economic interests involved in transgenderism,” including “the role of government, corporate-funding lobby groups, the medical industry and the bio-technology sector.” 

“It’s deeply concerning that an event like this is being permitted to proceed at any post-secondary education institution,” Jenn Rands, Pride Winnipeg’s vice president of community engagement, told CTV News. 

Referring to gender-affirming care as a commodity is inaccurate, she said, as it undermines the medical necessity of healthcare. 

“It’s entirely inappropriate and dangerous that transgender healthcare is being referred to as a commodity.… You can’t put a price on somebody’s life,” Rands said.

A petition started by fourth-year English student Emma Joyal, calling for the university to cancel the event, has gained over 1,600 signatures at the time of publication.

“Cancelling the talk is a way to show that this type of rhetoric toward the trans community, toward the queer community, isn’t acceptable and it’s not going to be tolerated,” she told CBC News. 

Elliott Long, a third-year student and a founder of Trans Manitoba, said that the event should be cancelled.

“The university is a historical place of student activism and human rights, so it seems very bizarre to me why they would promote this talk that is specifically singling out trans people,” he said, according to CBC News. 

Although no representative from the university, nor Boucher herself, has responded to interview requests from CBC News or CTV News, Boucher has previously claimed that “freedom of speech” should allow academics to discuss potentially harmful ideas.

In a 2018 op-ed in the Winnipeg Free Press, Boucher wrote that a diversity statement posted by the university was a “problematic” overreach that impacted freedom of speech. “Freedom of speech” is often used by conservative or libertarian groups to insulate universities hosting anti-LGBTQ2S+ events, by conflating the right to free speech with the right to a platform. 

“Is the presentation of scientific research on the origins of and character of differences between the sexes, or homosexuality and transgenderism, to be allowed?” she wrote. Scientific research does not support the idea that there is a definitive “origin” of queerness or transness. 

Boucher’s name and faculty email were also included in a data leak of donations to the “freedom convoy” last year, which was organized by a variety of people, some of whom hold anti-LGBTQ2S+ beliefs.

Alyson Brickey, a professor of English at the University of Winnipeg, told CTV News that she believed the event went against the university’s values as being “an inclusive and respectful place.” So she is helping to organize a Trans Love Cupcake Hour event at the same time, aimed at supporting the trans community. 

“What we’re really interested in is not so much hosting a counter-event, but rather just creating a space for connection and community and to celebrate the queer and trans community at the University of Winnipeg and beyond,” Brickey said. 

Earlier this year, an anti-trans speaking event at McGill University was protested by around 100 people. It was cancelled partway through after speaker Robert Wintemute, from the U.K.’s notoriously anti-trans LGB Alliance, had flour thrown on him.

Boucher’s talk has not been cancelled at the time of writing, though there is no publicly available information about it on any university-affiliated websites.