Transgender rights activists are delivering over 1,000 signed letters to Vancouver-Fraserview constituency offices of B.C. Liberal MLA and Attorney General Suzanne Anton today (April 25).

The letters are asking for gender identity and expression to be included in the B.C. Human Rights Code.

Eight provinces and territories explicitly protect against discrimination based on gender identity or expression: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories. British Columbia does not.

"We are not asking for special treatment," Trans Alliance Society chair Morgane Oger stated in a news release. "We are asking for the same treatment as afforded to sexual orientation, religion, and place of origin in the B.C. Human Rights Code. Protected classes are listed explicitly in the Code not only to resolve disputes, but to also let B.C. residents know that these groups are protected and are free to live regular, full lives like everyone else."

Vancouver-West End NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert will be reintroducing a bill on Wednesday (April 27) for transgender rights to be included in the B.C. Human Rights Code. This will be the fourth time that Chandra Herbert has tabled a bill to have gender expression and identity explicitly protected.