“No email. No text message. No phone call. No visits. Nothing.” No one in the government has yet responded to messages from Alexe Frédéric Migneault, a non-binary person who has been on hunger strike since Monday in the hope of getting one to receive a health insurance card that corresponds to their gender identity.
However, it’s not for lack of trying. Alexe Frédéric wrote to Health Minister Christian Dubé and to the minister responsible for the fight against homophobia, Martine Biron, but so far without success.
Alexe Frédéric has also sent an email to the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ) and spends most of his days in the Bois-de-Coulonges park, right next to the RAMQ site in Quebec, in the hope that management will condescend to visit him.
There is no one to give me a sign of life. “It’s a bit like screaming into the void,” illustrates Alexe Frédéric, 32 years old, originally from Montreal, who has been sleeping in his car since the beginning of the week to continue his fight in Quebec.
I feel neglected, ignored, abandoned. I feel like the community [LGBTQ+] Everything is suffering at the moment.
What I find particularly shocking is the government’s indifference. I’m not asking for much, I’m not asking for anything new either. This has already happened in several other provinces.
Alone in a dead end
From a legal point of view, Alexe Frédéric has been recognized as a non-binary person by the civil registry director of Quebec since last January, as evidenced by his certificate of change of gender designation, which bears the letter F or M.
However, ministries and authorities, including the RAMQ, are slow to adapt their own documents, which regularly leads to hurdles, especially for Alexe Frédéric in exchange with the health network.
That is why, with this hunger strike, Alexe Frédéric is trying everything to appeal to the authorities, especially since a year and a half ago a bill was passed in Quebec allowing trans and non-binary people to obtain the gender marker X.
Enduring hunger is not the worst thing, rather it is the resulting weakness. And somewhere also the feeling of fighting against something that is so much stronger than me, but that has so much control over my life, and that I’m just stuck in a dead end all alone.
Messages received
At Minister Martine Biron’s office we confirm that we received a letter from Alexe Frédéric this week. “We will take note of it first,” says Catherine Boucher, the minister’s press secretary.
We react very sensitively to the situation. We are in contact with the CIUSSS, the Rainbow Alliance and the RAMQ [nous] Make sure this is offered to him [soutien] necessary, writes Ms. Boucher, although Alexe Frédéric denies having had any contact with the health network since the start of his hunger strike.
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Martine Biron, Minister for the Fight against Homophobia and Transphobia
Photo: The Canadian Press / Jacques Boissinot
“We are aware that this is an important situation that the government needs to think about more comprehensively,” said Antoine de la Durantaye, press secretary for Health Minister Christian Dubé. We will continue the work with Minister Martine Biron.
For Alexe Frédéric, however, the lack of dialogue remains a mystery. I am sure that we can find a solution together […]. Once it’s done, it’s over.
We’re not that scary. Don’t be afraid to answer me. I can’t wait to talk to you. I can’t wait until we can sort this out together.
At risk of life
Alexe Frédéric also wants to send the following message: allowing the X marker instead of M or F on health insurance cards will not affect many people in Quebec. This fall, RAMQ received a total of 359 such inquiries across the province.
Since the health insurance card represents the gateway to healthcare in Quebec, it is necessary to fully understand the impact of a possible change on the information it presents as part of the continuum of services offered, explains RAMQ spokeswoman Caroline Dupont.
For this reason, the RAMQ is waiting to study the clinical impact of the MSSS before making any changes, she adds.
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The Minister of Health Christian Dubé
Photo: Radio-Canada / Sylvain Roy Roussel
Ms Dupont recalled that an interministerial committee set up a few months ago must now provide guidelines on gender markers X to ministries and authorities. The RAMQ will act on the recommendations made.
However, Minister Martine Biron’s office cannot yet say when the committee will be able to present its conclusions.
In this context, Alexe Frédéric wants to see his hunger strike through to the end. I won’t let go until it’s unlocked […]at risk of life.