Non-binary Montrealer Alexe Frederic Migneault, right, is on a hunger strike and camping near the office of Quebec's public health insurance board, in Quebec City, to get the government health insurance provider to institute an "X" gender option on their health insurance card, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Sol Guilloteau, left, joins them in their journey. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
QUEBEC – Non-binary Montrealer Alexe Frédéric Migneault is on Day 3 of a hunger strike to pressure Quebec’s public health insurance board to add a third gender option to health cards.
Migneault, whose pronouns are they/them, is camping near the board’s office in Quebec City and says they won’t give up their strike until the cards carry an alternative to the traditional “M” or “F” identifiers.
Migneault, whose strike involves only consuming vegetable broth, sports drinks and water, says they’ve been trying to get an “X” gender marker on their card since 2021 and that the board has been too slow to accommodate non-binary Quebecers.
The board won’t comment on individual cases but says the Health Department is analyzing how such a change would impact the province’s health and social services network.
Quebec’s secretariat for the condition of women says the health board is participating in an interdepartmental committee tasked with producing guidance on sex and gender markers for government agencies.
The secretariat, which oversees that committee, says guidance is coming soon, but did not give a date.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2023.
