Transgender activist Morgane Oger has been given Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal after defunding the country’s oldest rape shelter because they would not allow biological men who identify as women to stay there.
Oger, a man who lives as a woman, was given the award by Canadian Governor-General Mary Simon on December 7.
Feeling so grateful, recieving the Meritorious Service Medal from Governor General of Canada Mary Simon last week for supporting 2SLGBTQ+ persons and furthering the legal protections of Transgender Canadians.#TransRights #Transgender #lgbt #equality pic.twitter.com/QeJTKzxH35
— Morgane Oger (@MorganeOgerBC) December 16, 2023
Canada said that Oger is a “champion of diversity” thus deserving of the honor.
The award citation said that Oger “forged alliances across party lines that propelled changes to provincial and federal legislation protecting individuals against discrimination based on gender identity or expression.”
“Her courage, vision and perseverance have helped redefine the fundamental issue of equality and have advanced inclusiveness for gender-diverse Canadians,” the citation continued.
Breitbart News noted that “Oger was chosen for the award in 2018, and it remains unclear as to why it took five years to receive it.”
“It feels really, really, really nice. We don’t live in a day and age where medals come about very often, and the campaign to bring equality still has a lot of road ahead of us,” Oger said at the time.
Oger had led the charge to strip Vancouver Rape Relief of city funding for refusing to house transgender biological men.
The Daily Mail reports:
Vancouver City Council in March 2019 pulled its CAN$34,000 a year grant from 2020 unless the shelter, the oldest in Canada that began in 1974, changed its policy.
‘Trans women are women and sex work is work. Trans women and sex workers deserve care and protection,’ Councilor Christine Boyle said at the time.
‘I can’t support orgs who exclude them, so I won’t be supporting city funding for Vancouver Rape Relief.’
Councilor Sarah Kirby-Yung said, “They have done fantastic work and are a valuable service, but we wanted to make sure they extend it for everyone. If we are giving public funds, we need to give it to organizations that are inclusive.”
“I don’t want to live in a community that is not inclusive and reject people especially if someone is going through trauma.” Kirby-Yung added.
Vancouver Rape Relief argued the women who stay there do not feel safe around men after being raped.
