Amy Hamm is a Canadian nurse. Finally. We should rather say was.
She was fired after 13 years of service by her employer, Vancouver Coastal Health, after being charged with professional misconduct by her professional college
His fault: having said publicly (and not in the context of her work) that sex was biological and that it could not be changed. In thirteen years of service, no patient has complained about the quality of care provided by Ms. Hamm. It was the complaints of activists that led to this legal saga.
She dared to talk about reality.
Wrongdoing
And for her, this reality is important to guarantee women's rights to, for example, claim specific spaces in places of privacy or in sports. Hamm is an activist for women's rights, I would remind you, not in her professional environment, but in the public square, as any citizen can do.
But beyond the fact that she is fired for her personal opinions, it is crucial to point out that her opinion is based on a verifiable scientific fact: there are only two biological sexes.
It is extremely troubling that a health care institution would consider stating this reality to be wrongdoing that warranted dismissal. This should alarm not only medical workers, but also patients, who must be able to rely on a health care system based on science and biological reality, not on an ideology that sweeps away these foundations in favor of a partisan vision.
Judicialization
It is possible for people to disagree with his opinion. But for her professional order to take a stand and sanction her for this opinion is a serious precedent for any worker in Canada: our opinions, our opinions can constitute grounds for dismissal by our employers as long as we do not express "what needs to be said" in our lives as citizens.
Now, even something as mundane as saying or writing that sex is binary can be grounds for dismissal in Canada. Our society tolerates pharmacists refusing to give the contraceptive pill in the name of their religion, but a nurse can lose her job because she writes on social networks that there are only two sexes.
The fact that Amy Hamm positions herself on the reality of sex is one thing. We personally agree with his position. But even if she defended the opposite and it caused her to lose her job, we would still disagree with the decision of both her professional order to sanction her for this, and her employer to dismiss her on this basis.
We judicialize the voice of citizens. Reality is judicialized.
Freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, is weakened. We put reality aside for fear of displeasing.
Amy Hamm did not commit any professional misconduct.
His only fault is not thinking "the right deal". It's serious. Everyone should be concerned about that.
We dismiss reality. Freedom of expression is dismissed.
Marie Wright, member of the boards of Réseau Féministe Québécois
Alexandra Houle, President of Réseau Féministe Québécois
