Litigating Parentage: Equality Rights, LGBTQ Mobilization and Ontario's All Families Are Equal Act

Abstract

After a judge declared its parentage regime violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in 2016, Ontario passed the All Families Are Equal Act (AFAEA), which recognized LGBTQ families and parents of children born through assisted reproduction. This article analyzes the legislative hearings on the AFAEA, and highlights three factors that shaped the final policy outcome: a coordinated group of progressive witnesses with legal expertise; the presence of "rights talk" to inflate the scope of the judicial ruling; and the government's use of the Charter as both "shield" and "sword" to minimize conservative opposition. This highlights how the Charter can shape policy outcomes not just in the courtroom, but also during the lawmaking process. It also demonstrates that activists are now using the Charter-particularly the equality rights provisions-to change policy for two groups facing discrimination: trans parents and individuals using assisted reproduction.