by Renee King

"Father's sex change does not alter custody, court says" proclaimed the February 2, 2001 National Post headline. The article examined the case of Leslie Forrester, a lesbian, transsexual woman who was forced to fight for the custody of her young daughter after having revealed her transsexuality to her ex-partner. Randy Taylor, a host for CFRB 1010 Talk Radio, read the article and opened the topic for discussion on his two-hour show that day. The result was a disgusting display of ignorance, hatred and transphobia broadcast over Canadian airwaves.

In his ruling on the custody case, Justice Theo Wolder of the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton found that "the applicant's transsexuality, in itself, without further evidence, would not constitute a material change in circumstances, nor would it be considered a negative factor in custody determination." Justice Wolder also went on to say that "it appears from the evidence that (she) is a very well-adjusted, happy, healthy little girl, who in her own way has been able to accept the changes in her father and continues to enjoy a healthy relationship with her father, now a woman psychologically."

CFRB's Randy Taylor opened his on-air discussion of the issue by giving a brief summary of the aforementioned article and continued on to express his disgust with Justice Wolder's ruling, questioning the justice of a transsexual woman being granted any child custodial rights whatsoever. Ironically, Taylor supported his argument by lamenting the large number of fathers who fall through the cracks of the Ontario Family Court System and lose custody of their children.

Although Leslie has legally changed her name and lives her life as a woman, Mr. Taylor repeatedly mentioned her birth name when making reference to her and referred to her as "nothing more than a man in a dress." After discovering that the show was in process, Leslie called in to confront Mr. Taylor and subsequently became the victim of a vicious verbal attack. The host accused Leslie of having psychiatric problems and said that she would have a negative and adverse affect on the well being of her daughter. He also questioned Leslie's sexual orientation and asked why she would not want to remain a man if she really wanted to be with women.

Several of Mr. Taylor's faithful listeners phoned in to express their appreciation for his transphobic views, and to congratulate him for having the courage to confront issues such as these on the air. Whenever someone called in to express their support for Leslie, they were cut off in mid sentence and treated with the same contempt and lack of respect as Leslie had been earlier in the show. The overall tone of the show was rude and arrogant, and the ignorance the host displayed with respect to the issues of biological sex, gender identity and sexual orientation was simply inexcusable.

In a continuing fight for her rights, Leslie has prompted the CRTC to open an investigation against Randy Taylor and the CFRB, and a Human Rights Case is also pending. Members of our community can support Leslie by filing a formal complaint with the CRTC asking that Mr. Taylor be held accountable for his actions. Every voice counts!

On a more positive note, Leslie has recently become a recipient of the "Shero" award from Ryerson University for making a significant contribution to the GLBT Community and spoke at the recent Sexin' Change conference about "Trans Resistance, Trans Parenting and Racin' Change". Leslie is also proud to announce that she is engaged to be married to another lesbian mother in Peel and that her precedent setting custody case resulted in her being awarded joint custody and equal access of her daughter.

Complaints to the CRTC may be filed online at www.crtc.gc.ca