What Is “Gender Expression”? How a New and Nebulous Human Rights Construct Is Taking Shape in Ontario School Board Policy Documents

Oct 15, 2026

In 2002, Canadian jurisdictions began adding gender identity and/or gender expression as protected grounds in human rights laws. Gender identity protections typically target transgender people, while gender expression protections may extend to all Canadians in settings such as K–12 schools. Yet the law remains unsettled about what actions, utterances, or patterns qualify as gender expression discrimination and who can claim remedies. This article examines how the meaning of “gender expression” is constructed within Ontario English public secular school board policy documents (N = 206).

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Gender human rights law changes in Canada

Ontario’s Toby’s Act and undefined protected terms

OHRC provisional definitions of gender identity and gender expression

What Is “Gender Expression”? How a New and Nebulous Human Rights Construct Is Taking Shape in Ontario School Board Policy Documents Lee Airton Queen’s University Kyle Kirkup University of Ottawa Allison McMillan Queen’s University Jacob DesRochers Queen’s University Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:4 (2019)©2019 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Abstract In 2002, jurisdictions across Canada began adding two new protected grounds to their human rights laws: gender identity and/or gender expression. Gender identity protections generally apply only to transgender people, whereas gender expression protections may apply to all Canadians in places like K–12 schools. However, it remains legally unclear what kind of action, utterance, or pattern constitutes gender expression discrimination, and who can access related protections. In search of clarification, this article explores how the meaning of gender expression is being constructed within policy documents (N = 206) authored at the level of Ontario’s English public secular school boards. Keywords: gender expression, gender identity, transgender, education policy, education law, K–12, Ontario, Canada Résumé En 2002, des ressorts dans l’ensemble du Canada ont commencé à ajouter deux nouveaux motifs de discrimination interdits à leurs lois sur les droits de la personne, soit l’identité sexuelle et/ou l’expression de l’identité sexuelle ou de genre. Les protections entourantl’identité ne s’appliquent en général qu’aux personnes transgenres, alors que les protectionsentourant l’expression sexuelle ou de genre peuvent s’appliquer à tous les Canadiens et Canadiennes dans des endroits tels que les écoles élémentaires et secondaires. Une incertitude juridique demeure toutefois à l’égard du type d’action, de propos ou de schéma de comportement qui constitue une discrimination à l’égard de l’expression sexuelle ou de genre et à savoir qui peut se prévaloir des protections qui en découlent. Dans le but de clarifier cet aspect, cet article explore la manière dont la signification de l’expression sexuelle ou de genre est façonnée dans le cadre des politiques (N= 206) adoptées à l’échelon des conseils scolaires publics laïques de l’Ontario. Mots-clés : l’expression de l’identité sexuelle, l’identité sexuelle, transgenre, politique d’éducation, droit de l’éducation, écoles élémentaires et secondaires, Ontario, Canada Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:4 (2019) [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Acknowledgements This research was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada as well as internal seed grants from Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa. We also acknowledge school board staff who responded to our queries. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 42:4 (2019) [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Introduction Canada is in the midst of a gender human rights law revolution. Starting in 2002, federal, provincial, and territorial governments 1 across the country began adding two new protected grounds to their human rights laws: gender identity and/or gender expression. In Ontario these protected grounds were enacted via Toby’s Act (2012) . Toby’s Act was a tri-partisan bill put forward by Members of the Provincial Parliament from all three major parties (Conservative, Liberal, and New Democrat), which came about as a result of significant and prolonged activism by Ontario’s transgender-spectrum communities. Despite Toby’s Act adding gender identity and gender expression to the Ontario Human Rights Code, however, in each instance these terms were left undefined. In this vacuum, the Ontario Human Rights Commission ([OHRC] 2014) has provisionally defined gender identity as “each person’s internal and individual experience of gender” and

FAQs

What protections were added to Canadian human rights laws starting in 2002?

Jurisdictions began adding gender identity and/or gender expression as protected grounds in human rights laws.

How do gender identity and gender expression protections differ in general?

Gender identity protections generally apply to transgender people, while gender expression protections may apply more universally in public service contexts such as K–12 schools.

Why does legal uncertainty remain regarding gender expression discrimination?

The article notes that it is unclear what specific actions, utterances, or patterns constitute gender expression discrimination and who can access the related protections.

Oct 15, 2026

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