A transgender activist, whose advocacy led to the withdrawal of city funding from Canada’s oldest rape shelter has been honored by the Trudeau government.
A transgender activist, whose advocacy led to the withdrawal of city funding from Canada's oldest rape shelter, has recently been honored with a Meritorious Service Medal, recognizing her as a "champion of diversity" the Daily Mail has revealed.
Morgane Oger, a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman, received the award from Canadian Governor-General Mary Simon on December 7, standing alongside numerous other Canadians acknowledged for their noteworthy contributions. Oger expressed gratitude for the recognition, attributing the medal to her efforts in advancing legal protections for transgender Canadians.
The official citation for the award lauded Oger as a "champion of diversity" who played a pivotal role in reshaping perceptions of LGBTQI+ rights. It highlighted her tireless work in effecting changes to provincial and federal legislation, specifically in safeguarding individuals against discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Oger's ability to build alliances across party lines was acknowledgedwith the Trudeau government praising Oger for fostering inclusivity for gender-diverse Canadians.
While Oger was selected for the award in 2018, the reasons for the delay in its presentation, which occurred five years later, remain unclear. During the award ceremony, she reflected on the rarity of such recognitions and emphasized that the journey toward equality still faced significant challenges. Notably, during the same period, Oger led an initiative to revoke Vancouver Rape Relief's city funding due to their policy of not providing shelter to biological males who claim to be trans women.
In March 2019, the Vancouver City Council decided to withhold its annual grant of $34,000 starting from 2020 unless the shelter, which has been in operation since 1974 and is the oldest in Canada, modified its policy.
During the council's deliberations, Oger informed them that the shelter was in violation of the city's transgender equality and inclusion standards established in 2016. She asserted that the shelter's stance, which categorized transgender women as men rather than women, contradicted these criteria.
Several months following the removal of funding, the shelter experienced multiple incidents of vandalism in August 2019, including the gruesome act of attaching a deceased rat to the front door. The windows were defaced with the message "Kill TERFS, trans power," targeting "trans-exclusionary radical feminists" who do not acknowledge transgender identity.
At that time, Oger suggested that while the vandalism was unacceptable, the shelter may have contributed to such actions through its own behavior.
"Regrettably but predictably, VRR choosing to ignore Canada's civil rights laws causes blow-back," Oger said at the time
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