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Vancouver Lesbian Collective is a group of lesbians committed to fighting against the oppression, erasure and silencing of lesbians.
Please support our 2026 feminist campaign to make the law work for women. We have applied for status to intervene with our expertise in a BC Supreme Court case (Amy Hamm v British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives). We need your financial support so our lawyer can argue in court that:
- Being female is a lifelong, biologically-integrated fact that impacts innumerable aspects of our physiology, life course, and social status.
- “Sex” is expressly protected by section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and provincial Human Rights codes, and must be defined as biologically-based.
- A lesbian is someone who is biologically female and same-sex attracted. This definition is fundamental to lesbian identity, sexuality and experience.
- It must not be seen in law as discriminatory for lesbians to define or defend our sexuality (as same-sex attracted women).
Already our legal costs are over $6,000, with a total expected up to $60,000 if we are accepted.
Why this case?
The case is registered nurse Amy Hamm’s attempt to overturn a decision by the disciplinary panel of the BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM). The panel ruled that Ms Hamm, while off duty, committed “unprofessional conduct and made comments that were discriminatory and derogatory towards transgender people.”
The decision described statements like, “there are only two sexes” or “humans cannot change their sex” as discriminatory.
In the course of our everyday lives as lesbians and in our advocacy for lesbians, girls and women, Vancouver Lesbian Collective firmly states that sex is real and it matters.
While the BCCNW mandate technically extends only to its licensed members, this regulatory proceeding touches upon numerous aspects of public law: free speech rights under section s.2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, equality rights under s. 15 of the Charter, the right to freedom of association under s. 2(d) of the Charter, and the discretion of a regulatory body to sanction its members for speech and conduct outside of their profession.
The proceeding is clearly a matter of interest and public law, evident from the number of parties seeking to intervene. VLC is one of five parties who have applied for intervenor status.
While the Panel sanctioned Amy for a few specific statements, it first examined many hundreds of her comments in detail and made broad findings as to what speech constitutes discriminatory and derogatory treatment of transgender people.
In doing so, the Panel created a definition of what constitutes discriminatory and derogatory comments about transgender people. If entrenched in law, this definition of discrimination puts at risk feminists, lesbians, and anyone who publicly makes the simple statement of facts (there are two human sexes, sex cannot change) or makes remarks critical of gender identity ideology.
We are very concerned that this decision will establish a legal context where anyone in a regulated profession (e.g. nurses, physicians, other healthcare providers, teachers, lawyers) will see their livelihood at risk if someone complains about their off duty comments. We know women in many other jobs are likewise worried.
The panel decision reflects a movement in society to replace sex with gender identity.
- We are concerned that women and lesbians’ protections on the basis of sex in the Charter and human rights laws become meaningless if biological sex is made irrelevant, or if it becomes discriminatory to exclude someone from a lesbian group based on their gender identity (their firmly held belief that they are a woman). We undertake this legal campaign to defend these protections so that:
- We and all lesbians can continue to freely choose our sexual and social partners among women only.
- We can continue to organize lesbian-only social and advocacy groups.
- We can continue to advocate in favour of the equality rights of lesbians in the face of growing homophobic backlash.
- We can continue to advocate as feminists for the equality and defence of all women and girls.
The BC Supreme Court case will be heard November 10 -13, 2026.
A hearing in July 2026 determines if VLC will be allowed to contribute expertise to the case.
Lesbian and feminist interest in this case
Vancouver Lesbian Collective applied to have our expertise considered because if the BCCNM panel decision is entrenched in law, lesbians and all women risk:
- Losing hard-fought (by feminists before us) accommodations that promote substantive equality for women and lesbians that have been achieved in Canada.
- Reduced or complete loss of ability for feminist advocacy in favour of equality rights for women and lesbians.
- Our professional status and livelihood when we act publicly as advocates for women’s protections on the basis of sex.
Vancouver Lesbian Collective is particularly concerned with the following excerpts from the BCCNM disciplinary panel decision and object to these concepts becoming entrenched in Canadian law:
- Paragraph 237: “…the Panel considered the Respondent’s evidence that she was not seeking to discriminate against transgender persons but rather to advocate for the sex-based equality rights of cisgender women and girls. […] The Panel accepted the Respondent’s evidence of her intentions but noted statements may be discriminatory and harmful in effect even if not intended to be so. [...]”
- Paragraph 250: “The statement that sex is distinct from gender as a material biological reality is true but other claims such as there are only two sexes, humans cannot change their sex, and sex chromosomes are immutable are either oversimplifications or not true given that sex is multidimensional.”
- P. 93 of the appendix: “The suggestion that women cannot defend their legal rights or the definition of womanhood if anyone can self-identify as a woman is critical of the right of transgender persons to express their identity authentically and transition to a sex that reflects their sense of identity.”
- P. 100 of the appendix: “It is discriminatory and derogatory to suggest that transgender women should not be in the same spaces as cisgender women.”
The Panel’s reasoning is particularly troubling for lesbians. In a historically patriarchal society where lesbians have faced double disadvantages for being women and for our sexuality, if read into law and social policy would force us to include as a “lesbian” any male on the basis only that he sees himself as a lesbian and expects us to see him as a lesbian. We could lose our ability to control our membership and define who we are. We could become legally required to accommodate males who see themselves as lesbians and expect us to see them as lesbians.
Vancouver Lesbian Collective is Canada’s sole lesbian-only group, entirely volunteer-run, and a registered non-profit society. We are based in Vancouver with members throughout BC. VLC was banned from Pride and the Dyke March for our views, yet continues to organize successful lesbian pride and social events several times each year.
Contact us to attend our Lesbian Pride BBQ, or an upcoming film night or dance.
We have hosted several large community events, most recently a series entitled Feminists Speak Out, including a 2024 public panel featuring Kathleen Stock and Cherry Smiley about the problems for women and girls of gender identity ideology and in 2025 a panel on the importance of women-only organizing, featuring Julie Bindel and Vancouver Rape Relief. 200 people attended each of these self-funded events.
Over several years, we have led a coalition of women around the BC on a campaign #WomenDemand #GuaranteedLivableIncome, which saw the participation of women from 17 locations around the province in a well-covered campaign for a Guaranteed Livable Income.
Please visit our website at www.vancouverlesbiancollective.com to learn more about our feminist campaigns on behalf of lesbians!
Thank you for your support and your generous donations.
Remember—no amount is too small (or too large)!