Non-binary option allowed on Métis card

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This article was published 19/12/2020 (2100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Metis Federation is changing its citizenship card to accommodate people who don’t fit the gender binary.

The federation’s cabinet unanimously passed a resolution Friday to allow people to indicate a gender-neutral option.

Métis citizens can still chose F and M for female and male, but they can opt for X, indicating they are non-binary or gender non-conforming.

That’s similar to a 2019 change to the Canadian passport.

“We need people to believe in themselves…  and be proud of themselves; not to be ashamed or hide their identity,” said federation president David Chartrand, who said the idea came from the organization’s LGBTTQ+ caucus.

He expects pushback from some Métis elders, whom he described as “very Catholic,” but said his people must live up to values of inclusion.

“Enough is enough; time has changed and we need to respect all people,” Chartrand said.

The National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools, both heard from Indigenous people who identify as two-spirit, or other gender and sexual minorities. They testified that they face discrimination in communities with conservative branches of Christianity.