Guidelines would allow students to use whichever name, pronoun, and washroom they wish
The B.C. Catholic
A controversial piece of legislation caused parents to take to the streets in Calgary and Edmonton in May.
Bill 10, approved by Alberta’s government just over a year ago, requires all schools to start “gay-straight alliances” if students request them.
Then, in January, the government introduced further guidelines for how to accommodate transgendered students, such as minimizing gender-segregated sports and allowing students to use whichever name, pronoun, and washroom they wish.
The guidelines instruct teachers to get a child’s “explicit permission” before disclosing their “gender identity” or expression to their parents.
“If we really care about the children of Alberta, then parents; not teachers, schools, bureaucrats, or activists, must remain the primary caregivers in their children’s lives,” said Donna Trimble, the executive director of Parents for Choice in Education, at a rally in Calgary May 14.
Trimble told about 2,000 demonstrators many parents are concerned Bill 10 and provincial guidelines mean they have less say in the education of their little ones.
“When parental rights are stripped, children are endangered. Parental notification regarding the needs of their children in school cannot be optional,” Trimble said.
“As long as Bill 10 remains on the books, the government knows it can continue to violate religious freedom, it can continue to violate parental rights, and it can continue to violate the relationship that is sacred between parents and their children.”
Parents for Choice in Education also organized a rally that day in Edmonton. The group said 20,000 people had signed a petition calling for amendments to provincial laws and guidelines about accommodating transgendered students.
The issue has been hotly debated for a year. Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary harshly criticized the guidelines, saying, “Totalitarianism is alive and well in Alberta.”
Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton said the provincial guidelines have “many constructive, thoughtful, and reasonable suggestions,” but others that are “not congruent” with Church teaching.
Trimble hopes to meet with government officials to find ways to amend Bill 10 and the guidelines.
“We ask, with respect, will the government of Alberta sit down with Parents for Choice in Education and work out legislative changes and amendments to Bill 10 to return parents to their rightful position as the primary educators and caregivers of their children.”
