Petition created in Waterloo Region sees over 24,000 signatures in two weeks

The petition created by Waterloo Region resident Cait Glasson asks the House of Commons to give “transgender and nonbinary people the right to claim asylum in Canada by reason of eliminationist laws in their home countries,” regardless of the country they reside in.

This comes after multiple U.S. states have considered laws to eliminate and in some cases criminalize gender-affirming care. In Canada, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community can seek asylum, but not from nations like the United States and the United Kingdom.

MP Mike Morrice has sponsored this petition and will present it at the House of Commons after it reached the minimum amount of signatories a few hours after it was created on January 26.

“It's an indication of the number of people across the country who are similarly concerned as I am and as Cait is,” said Morrice. “I'm certainly proud that this is coming from our community.”

The petition now has over 24,000 signatories, making it the number one active petition supported by an MP nationwide on the House of Commons website, and in the top 10 for any petition over the course of the entire parliamentary session.

Morrice added that he hopes to see even more Canadians sign the petition, as more signatories result in a stronger response from the Federal Government, who have 45 days to respond from the day Morrice makes his presentation.

Morrice explained why he's become so passionate about this cause.

“The more I learn about and hear directly from transgender and non-binary folk… I've been able to hear from people in those states (that are considering the anti-gender-affirming care laws,) talking about the fear that they feel. I promised our community that I would be listening to concerns that came from our community, and I'd use my platform to bring attention to that.”

The petition is still open to signing until May 26. You can find it here.