| In this thesis, I seek to examine the concept of 'transgender jurisprudence' within the Canadian human rights and anti-discriminatory framework. In challenging legal assumptions and categorical thinking to understanding the connection between 'gender' and 'sex' under the law, I will demonstrate that current prohibited grounds of discrimination are inadequate and insufficient to provide formal and substantive legal equality rights to the marginalized group of transgendered people because the current legal framework is heavily dictated by deeply entrenched binary gender norms. Upon the consideration of areas such as the social construction of gender, medicalization of gender identity, sex reassignment surgery, Canadian prisons, gendered facilities, and the conflicting tension within transgender jurisprudence itself, I will propose that an ethical (or social constructivist) approach to breaking down discriminative gender barriers is an ideal and possible alternative to ensuring a proper and adequate translation of formal and substantive equality rights for transgendered people. |
