More than 100 Albertans gathered outside the legislature building Saturday to voice their support for new provincial legislation targeting transgender women and youth.

The province introduced three new bills earlier this month targeting the transgender and non-binary community, which – according to 2021 census data – represents less than 0.4 per cent of Albertans.

If the bills pass, they would ban transgender women and girls from women’s sports divisions, restrict gender-affirming medical treatments for trans and nonbinary youth, and require schools to disclose and obtain approval from parents to use a student’s preferred pronoun or name. school.

“Today we are here to celebrate the legislation,” said organizer Benita Pedersen.

“In the past, I have protested legislation that I disagreed with. But in this case, I am here to welcome the legislation rather than protest it.”

Pedersen is the founder of All Fired Up for Freedom, a group focused on “protecting and restoring individual rights, freedoms and responsibilities.”

The rally was organized by six groups, including Pedersen’s and the Reformed Political Action Association of Canada (ARPA), a group aiming to bring “a biblical perspective” to civil authorities.

Pedersen said she was pleased with the turnout.

“We feel like the majority of Albertans believe in healthy boundaries for children, believe that the relationship between parents and children is special and nothing should interfere with that,” she said.

A group of Albertans came together to show their support for the province’s new legislation aimed at the transgender and non-binary community on November 9, 2024. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

Since the policies were announced, thousands of Albertans – including doctors, transgender health specialists, legal experts, educators and LGBTQ2S+ rights advocates – have come forward and voiced their opposition to the law.

Critics have also raised questions about government overreach, saying medical decisions regarding young people should be made between young people, their parents and their doctors.

Egale Canada and the Skipping Stone Foundation announced they would take legal action against the Alberta government over these policies.

Premier Danielle Smith said she believed the policies were reasonable and would hold up in court.

Smith argued that the legislation was aimed at protecting young people and was based on political changes in countries such as Denmark and the United Kingdom.