Protesters gathered at Queen’s Park on Saturday for duelling demonstrations focused on Canada’s policies regarding gender-affirming care for transgender youth.Dozens of demonstrators arrived around 10:30 a.m. in front of the provincial legislature before marching through the streets of downtown Toronto for the “Let Kids Be” rally where they called for an end to medical gender transitions for minors.Promotional materials for the rally listed speakers from Christian lobby groups, like Paul Lawton and Mike Schouten from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA). “We’re here today because we need to let kids be, to grow up and develop naturally without medical gender transitions,” Daniel Zekveld, a policy analyst with ARPA told CityNews at the rally. Zekveld is calling on the Ontario government to follow in Alberta’s lead and limit medical gender transitions for transgender youth.In 2024, the Alberta legislature passed a bill which seeks to ban hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors under 16 and sexual reassignment surgery for those under 18. However, this summer, a judge granted a temporary injunction halting the bill’s implementation. As a result, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, has been mulling the use of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to resume the legislation.According to the Government of Canada, hormone or puberty blockers are “medications that suppress the signs of puberty once it begins.” In almost every case, youth are not old enough to get medical treatment without a parent, guardian or other caregiver’s permission.A 2024 poll conducted by the market research and analytics firm, Leger, found that nearly half of Canadians (45 per cent) believe gender reassignment surgeries for minors 17 and under should be prohibited. It also found that 30 per cent would approve with parental consent, and 11 per cent would support without any parental consent.Other speakers at Saturday’s rally included Ann Gillies, a failed Conservative nomination candidate, who is the founder of a group called “Restoring the Mosaic,” which according to its website “seeks to strengthen Canadian national unity by educating policymakers” with clinical research to help them “establish programs and policies that allow individuals with crises of identity to recover wholeness.”Canadian powerlifter, April Hutchinson, with the group “Keep Female Sports Female” also spoke at the rally along with Kellie-Lynn Pirie from the organization, “DeTrans Alliance Canada.”Counter protestors also showed up to Queen’s Park in full force with signs and banners reading “Protect Trans Kids.” The opposing demonstration was organized by a group called Trans Rights Commission Toronto. They were joined by sitting NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, who also serves as the official opposition critic for the Attorney General and 2SLGBTQ+ issues. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam)“The message here is that young people, including trans and non-binary kids, need to be affirmed and supported when they are seeking services as well as care,” Wong-Tam told CityNews. “I think there needs to be a recognition that there are kids who need to have caring adults in institutions– whether it’s their school or their place of worship or their community centres–where they can be affirmed and be their true authentic selves.”“We live in Canada where these rights are actually enshrined, so any type of effort or movement to erode the human rights that were won over the years should be countered,” Wong-Tam added.