Kimberly Nixon Rape Relief case

Kimberly Nixon is a transgender woman who filed a human rights complaint against Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter Society (VRRS) for discrimination. VRRS argued that Nixon, a transgender woman, did not have the same life experiences as someone who is female and, therefore, could not volunteer as a peer rape counsellor. The case was heard at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, British Columbia Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of British Columbia, each of which rejected Nixon’s complaint. On February 1, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Nixon’s request to appeal the decision.

Personal life
Nixon is a post-operative transgender woman. She was born male at birth and realized from an early age that her physical sex did not align with her sense of self. She lived privately as a transgender woman and publicly as a male until 1990 when she underwent sex reassignment surgery alongside hormone replacement therapy at age 33. Following her surgery, Nixon’s birth certificate was amended, identifying her as a female.

As a survivor of male violence and sexual assault as a transgender woman, Nixon had previously received aid and volunteered with Battered Women’s Support Service (BWSS) as well as another halfway house that helped women in crisis. Inspired by her own past experience, Nixon applied to volunteer at Vancouver Rape Relief Society, a non-profit organization that provides services for women who have been victims of male violence. Following Nixon’s successful prescreening, she was rejected by the society based upon her biological sex as a male-born transgender woman.

Human rights complaint
Nixon alleged that Vancouver Rape Relief discriminated against her violating the British Columbia Human Rights Code. The society argued that they didn’t allow males into the group and to qualify as a volunteer she must have been a woman who experienced sex-based oppression from birth. They argued that Nixon was socialized as a man and thus, did not have the proper life experiences of a woman. Other Rape Relief trainers supported this position identifying Nixon as a man, which justified her rejection from the volunteer position.

In August 1995, Nixon filed a formal human rights complaint against VRRS. This resulted in Nixon receiving a formal letter apologizing for her exclusion, $500 in compensation, and an offer for an in-person apology. Nixon rejected these offers and in 2000 the case went to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. Nixon won the Human Rights Tribunal on the grounds that the society discriminated against her and was awarded $7,500 for injury of self-respect and dignity. Vancouver Rape Relief Society brought the Tribunal’s decision for judicial review, establishing that discrimination was not present.

Vancouver Rape Relief Society v. Nixon
In August 2003, the decision was brought to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The court was to decide "whether transgendered women are protected from discrimination on the basis of sex". The court debated gender, biological indicators against social, psychological, psychiatric and legal treatment. On December 19, 2003, the Supreme Court determined that there was an error in the decision made by the tribunal. It was ruled that Vancouver Rape Relief had not discriminated against Nixon because VRR’s right to freedom of association based on Sex was protected under human rights law. This meant that the group had the right to organize as a female-only service, irrespective of gender identity.

Following this decision Nixon appealed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal which unanimously upheld the previous decision by the Supreme Court of BC as Vancouver Rape Relief was protected under BC Human Rights Code Section 41(1). This allowed the society to abide by its female-only membership policy, based on its mandate to provide services to female victims of male violence. On February 1, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Nixon’s request to appeal the decision. Nixon was also charged with covering the awarded costs of Vancouver Rape Relief, which Nixon has refused to pay.