{"id":164105,"date":"2026-08-11T16:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/164105\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T16:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:46:08","slug":"canadas-support-for-gender-diversity-is-falling-and-politics-is-driving-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/164105\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada’s support for gender diversity is falling \u2014 and politics is driving It"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a long time, Canadian attitudes toward gender diversity moved in one direction: progressive acceptance. In May 2026, however, Statistics Canada released\u00a0new findings<\/a>\u00a0showing that, compared to 2018, significantly fewer people in 2025 are supportive of diverse gender expressions and transgender people.<\/p>\n

From October 2024 to June 2025,\u00a0survey data<\/a>\u00a0was collected from 48,547 people 15 years of age and older in Canada as part of the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces. The survey was completed either online (self-administered) or by phone (by an interviewer) and collected information on Canadians\u2019 experiences in public, at work, online and in their intimate relationships. The survey was conducted to ensure representation by geographical region, age and gender.<\/p>\n

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Two questions focused on gender identity and expression. Survey respondents were asked the extent to which they agreed with these statements: 1. People should be able to express their gender however they choose. 2. I would support a family member if they came out as transgender.<\/p>\n

Compared to 2018, significantly fewer people in 2025 agreed that individuals should be free to express their gender however they choose. While the majority of Canadians do support diverse gender expressions, support has decreased.<\/p>\n

As Statistics Canada reports: \u201cThese changes were the most substantial among all eight gender-based violence, gender expression and gender equality statements included in the survey.\u201d The agency notes these attitude shifts have coincided with a period of heightened public debate over the rights of transgender and gender diverse people.<\/p>\n

The numbers behind the shift<\/p>\n

Importantly, support fell among women and men. The percentage of women supporting a diversity of gender expressions fell from 85 per cent in 2018 to 77 per cent in 2025. Support among men was even lower, falling from 78 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n

The decline was steepest in Saskatchewan, where support for diverse gender expressions among women fell 14 percentage points, from 83 per cent in 2018 to 69 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n

Among 15- to 24-year-olds, there was a striking difference in support for diverse gender expressions between women (82 per cent supportive) and men (68 per cent supportive).<\/p>\n

Results are similar for the survey question about whether Canadians would support a family member if they came out as transgender. In 2018, 80 per cent of women said they would be supportive; this decreased to 77 per cent. Among men, in 2018, 72 per cent said they would be supportive; this dropped to 65 per cent in 2025. Note that comparisons from 2018 to 2025 on this survey item should be interpreted with caution because the wording changed.<\/p>\n

These findings are consistent with polling data from the\u00a0Ipsos Global LGBTQ+ Pride Report<\/a>\u00a0indicating that, from 2023 to 2024, Canadians became more divided and less supportive of specific measures that support transgender people, like government-issued documents that include an option other than \u201cmale\u201d or \u201cfemale.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political and social context<\/p>\n

Public opinion about gender diversity reflects broader social norms and systems that can normalize discrimination and hate.<\/p>\n

The political landscape of 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in Canada shifted in recent years. Even as the federal government expanded recognition of these rights, including through\u00a0the 2022 Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan<\/a>, several provinces moved in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

Between 2023 and 2025,\u00a0New Brunswick<\/a>,\u00a0Saskatchewan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alberta<\/a>\u00a0passed legislation\u00a0restricting the rights<\/a>\u00a0of trans and gender-diverse individuals to access a\u00a0safe school environment<\/a>. Alberta also implemented restrictions to\u00a0gender-affirming healthcare<\/a>\u00a0for youth and\u00a0participation in sport<\/a>\u00a0for trans women and girls.<\/p>\n

During this timeframe, anti-trans sentiment and discourse became\u00a0louder and more visible<\/a>. This includes discourse by political leaders as well as\u00a0online dehumanization<\/a>\u00a0and mis- and disinformation.<\/p>\n

Trans and gender-diverse people only make up\u00a00.33 per cent of the population in Canada<\/a>. While no similar statistics exist for Canada,\u00a041 per cent of Americans say they know a trans person, and only 27 per cent have had regular conversations with a trans person<\/a>. This makes\u00a0public messaging<\/a>\u00a0a significant influence on public attitudes.<\/p>\n

When political leaders, like Alberta Premier Danielle Smith,\u00a0weaponize trans-exclusionary framing<\/a>, support for trans rights drops significantly. For example, when the inclusion of trans girls and women is presented as a risk to cis gender women and girls, it\u00a0has detrimental impacts on public attitudes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Decreased support for trans people and diverse gender expressions also corresponds with an increase in outright hostility,\u00a0including hate crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Egale Canada\u2019s\u00a0recent analysis<\/a>\u00a0of 2024 police-reported hate crime data from Statistics Canada illustrates that incidents targeting gender identity and expression are rising. Reported hate crimes targeting trans and gender-diverse individuals have nearly tripled since 2020.<\/p>\n

More on Broadview:<\/p>\n

What actions can be taken?<\/p>\n

There are concrete actions that public figures, like politicians and other decision-makers, can take that will prevent public opinion from becoming even more hostile toward trans and gender-diverse individuals.<\/p>\n

First, start with meaningful consultation with 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations when developing laws and policies affecting trans and gender-diverse communities, paying particular attention to those most impacted.<\/p>\n

Increase public education and prevention initiatives that promote acceptance while countering anti-2SLGBTQIA+ mis-, dis- and malinformation, including\u00a0transphobic narratives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Provide expanded access to 2SLGBTQIA+-affirming gender-based violence and mental health supports, including culturally competent services, provider training and crisis intervention.<\/p>\n

At a local level, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and organizations are responding to the rise in hate. It is important to allocate dedicated funding to community organizations to strengthen their capacity to respond to the escalating levels of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate and the negative impacts of the spread of mis-, dis- and malinformation.<\/p>\n

As the federal government implements its \u201cAI for All\u201d strategy, it needs to\u00a0strengthen platform accountability<\/a>\u00a0and advance responsible AI governance in order to combat the spread of\u00a0anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate and misinformation<\/a>\u00a0that can lead to hate incidents.<\/p>\n

The recent decline in public support for gender diversity \u2014 coupled with a reduction of fundamental human rights by provincial governments \u2014 is creating a hostile climate for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, specifically those who are trans and gender diverse.<\/p>\n

This shift in public opinion illustrates the power political leaders have to shape public discourse and the responsibility they hold to ensure individual and societal safety for everyone in Canada.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Leah Hamilton is a p<\/a>rofessor in the Faculty of Business & Communication Studies, Mount Royal University and Corinne L. Mason is a p<\/a>rofessor of Women\u2019s and Gender Studies at Mount Royal University. Brittany Jakubiec, Director of Research at Egale Canada, also contributed to this piece.<\/p>\n

This article is republished from\u00a0The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the\u00a0original article.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a long time, Canadian attitudes toward gender diversity moved in one direction: progressive acceptance. In May 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32886,6422,17,9411,15490],"class_list":["post-164105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-2slgbtqia","tag-activism","tag-canada","tag-lgbtq2s","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}