She-Hulk star condemns ‘absurd’ law requiring parents to approve children’s pronoun changes
The Saskatchewan native called the new legislation ‘an overreach’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s Tatiana Maslany has criticized a new law, implemented in her native Saskatchewan, Canada, which requires school staff to obtain parental consent before using a student’s new name or gender identity.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights was signed into effect in October 2023, making it the first provincial education law that could limit gender identity in schools. The law only affects children under the age of 16.
Speaking to local reporters following her recent Canada Walk of Fame event, Maslany, 38, addressed the new legislation, saying: “It should not be in the control of the parents how a child identifies; how a child knows them self to be.”
The actor, who is a prominent LGBT+ rights activist, added: “That isn’t a parent’s place – it’s an overreach. It’s an overreach on the part of the provincial government to legislate that. It’s absurd.”
She continued: “Children have rights. Children are human beings who have knowledge and who know themselves and we should be taking cues from them. In so many ways, we should be taking cues from them. Listening to them, empowering them to know who they are and to name that.
“It’s their right. It’s not the parents’s right.”
The Orphan Black actor is known for using her platform to speak out about certain causes.
During the Walk of Fame ceremony, she used her acceptance speech to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“I would say with whatever platform I have, that we can’t do nothing. And I would demand that our government demand a cease-fire, stop funding a genocide, stop being complicit in it,” Maslany said. “Thank you for this honor, thank you for being here. Free Palestine.”
In an April interview with The Independent, she also reacted to the revelations of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV – the much-talked-about docuseries about the underbelly of abuse at Nickelodeon from the late Nineties to the early 2000s.
“It is so hard to talk about that stuff when you have grown up in it,” the former child actor said.
“You’re taking cues from the adults so speaking up is something that you were never allowed to do. There’s this false sense of security because you’re so beloved by the people who work with you, but you’re also taught never to cross them… I was so blown away by their honesty, and by the fact that these kids, now adults, were able to unravel that learning and to speak.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments