(Quebec) The Legault government calls on a non-binary person to end their hunger strike.
Posted at 5:34 p.m
Patrice Bergeron The Canadian Press
Alexe Frédéric Migneault stopped eating on Monday and set up camp in a park near the headquarters of the Régie de l’assurance santé in Quebec.
Alexe Frédéric Migneault is calling for the inclusion of a third gender option, “X,” on Quebec’s health insurance cards, an alternative to the traditional “M” or “F” for men and women.
Alexe Frédéric Migneault has no intention of starting to eat again until he/she feels full.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Alexe Frédéric Migneault
“I want this person to end his hunger strike,” Minister for the Status of Women Martine Biron demanded in a press scrum on the sidelines of an announcement Friday in Quebec.
“There are a lot of people who want him to stop because we want him to be safe. I discussed it with the LGBTQ communities, the Rainbow Alliance, which is based here in Quebec and has ties to this person. We all want him to end the hunger strike so we can work more peacefully. »
Alexe Frédéric Migneault has continued his efforts to win his/her case for more than two years and is on his/her fourth hunger strike.
However, the minister reiterates that the dossier is “progressing” and that a committee made up of 18 ministries and organizations is working on a solution.
“Things happen, steps need to be taken, I can’t pull the flower to make it grow faster,” she concluded.
Adding the “X” designation would help protect members of Quebec’s non-binary community and ensure medical records reflect accurate information, argued Alexe Frédéric Migneault.
“It is a question of health, physical health, mental health (for) the entire community affected,” Alexe Frédéric Migneault told La Presse Canadienne.
Quebec began allowing non-binary gender markers on birth and death certificates last year.
The Health Insurance Administration has not yet implemented this option on its cards, which are required to access government-funded health care.
In addition to the “M” and “F” symbols on the cards, the Régie includes a code corresponding to the gender of Quebecers in the unique numbers of its health card.
In a press release, RAMQ said its health insurance cards and numbers are critical to ensuring that diagnoses, treatments and care are “assigned to the right person.” She added that the Ministry of Health is currently analyzing the implications of introducing a third gender designation in the province’s health and social services network.
Alexe Frédéric Migneault does not plan to call off his strike until his health insurance number is changed and his health insurance card does not indicate an “X” for gender.
Water, sports drinks and vegetable broth are his only foods.
As many as 350 people requested that RAMQ change the designation for “X,” Ms. Biron’s press secretary said. According to the data she presented, there are 16,000 trans and non-binary people in Quebec.