A slew of new provincial policies relating to gender identity and expression will do more harm than than good, says one expert in the Athabasca region.
The province of Alberta announced new educational and health reforms relating to gender identify and expression Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, which will require parental consent for minors to alter their name or pronouns in a school setting.
Premier Danielle Smith posted a seven-minute-long video Jan. 30, detailing the reforms she said came from a place of care and acceptance. Local 2SLGBTQI+ leaders and allies aren’t as convinced; many, including Athabasca United Church Reverend Monica Rosborough, said the policy will do more harm than good.
“This really forces children to go back into the closet. If they were feeling like they had a safe space in school, school is no longer a safe space. Smith has taken that away from them,” said Rosborough, who helps run Athabasca Outreach, an advocacy and outreach organization in Athabasca that focuses on 2SLGBTQI+ issues.
Others, including Dr. Kristopher Wells, a MacEwan University Professor and the Canada Research Chair for the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth, said the policies were draconian.
“It is a full-on attack against trans and 2SLGBTQ+ communities,” Wells wrote. “There is no evidence or research to support any of these recommendations.”
“This is ideological warfare.”
In a Feb. 1 press release the province laid out health policies it said will be coming into effect in the following months. All gender and reassignment surgeries for minors aged 17 and under will be prohibited and the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the purpose of gender reassignment or affirmation will not be permitted for children aged 15 and under. ‘Mature teens’ — aged 16 and 17 — may only choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.
Inside schools, a series of reforms for issues colloquially referred to as ‘parental rights’ require parents to consent to name and pronoun changes for students under the age of 15 and will require schools to notify parents if their ‘mature’ children wish to alter names or pronouns. Parents will also have to opt-in their child when teachers plan to discuss subject matter related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or sexuality for K–12 students.
Smith said the government knows that “nearly all parents,” will love and care for their children regardless of the “choices they make,” adding that in the “handful of rare situations where one or both of the parents reject or become abusive to a child who identifies as transgender, we have child protection laws that will be strictly enforced.”
Homeless Hub, the online branch of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) —Canada’s largest national research institute on the topic — tracks statistics around youth homelessness, many of which contradict Smith’s statement.
According to COH’s research, 51 per cent of 2SLGBTQI+ youth said they were homeless or street-involved due to an inability to get along with their parents, compared to 36 per cent of heterosexual cisgender youth. Some 34 per cent of 2SLGBTQI+ said that violence or abuse made them leave home, compared to only 16 per cent of heterosexual cisgender youth.
“So many trans youths are at risk of being targeted for abuse by family, and many trans youths feel like they can’t come out with their families for fear of losing their homes,” said Rosborough. “This is not something that they choose any more than you or I choose who we’re sexually attracted to.”
Inside schools
Pembina Hills School Division chair Judy Lefebvre said the board’s trustees haven’t had time to come up with a formal statement regarding the upcoming changes and are not scheduled to meet until Feb. 21. Lefebvre said the board stands behind its earlier statements on similar topics, including on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
Lefebvre said the schools abide by the curriculum.
The announcement yesterday had nothing to do with curriculum, except that students would be able to opt out of stuff in the classroom,” said Lefebvre.
Candy Nikipelo, Aspen View Public School division’s board chair, had a similar statement — in response to a Feb. 1 email, Nikipelo said the board would be unable to comment until they have any communication from the government.
