The Edmonton Public School Board is gearing up for a fight with Alberta parents and Premier Danielle Smith’s government by opposing a series of parental rights policies.
The school board issued a motion on Tuesday that attacked the right of parents to be informed about their children using different pronouns while at school and giving them more control over sex education.
The motion quoted Senator Kristopher Wells saying that the policies, “if passed, they would be some of the most extreme anti-trans and anti-2SLGBTQ policies, not only in Canada, but in the world.”
The policies provide additional protection for youth in healthcare, education, and sports. One key change is from the current policy where parents can opt their children out of lessons that teach sexual orientation and gender identity curricula. Parents will now have to opt them in.
The school board’s motion said that this needs to be reverted immediately.
“Allowing parents/guardians to opt out of sexual education, is a long-standing practice that works,” reads the motion. “The process is transparent, respects student well-being as well as parental choice. There are numerous research studies that show the teaching of sexual health education contributes to safer sex practices, fewer sexually transmitted infections, and reduced teen pregnancies.”
However, nothing in Alberta’s bills would remove sexual education. Parents would just have more say in what kind of sexual education their children learn about.
Executive Director of Parents for Choice in Education, John Hilton-O’Brien, criticized the “evidence” provided in the EPSB’s motion, saying that it relied heavily on surveys, which doesn’t speak to cause and effect. He said that the evidence provided had been “destroyed” by the Cass Review — which Smith previously called “the most comprehensive review of the medical literature and the science behind” the impacts of transitioning on children.
Additionally, he said that the school board fundamentally misunderstood children’s right to privacy. He said they’re arguing that a child’s right to privacy is against the parents and that they, as bureaucrats, could exercise that right. However, in reality, the right to privacy is against the state and for the parents to exercise.
“They’re flipping the very idea of human rights completely on its head,” said Hilton-O’Brien.
“These guys can’t get it together with the billion dollars plus that they have. They couldn’t get it together to give a salient response to this legislation. This is sheer incompetence,” he added.
However, he did admit that the proposed legislation was imperfect. He said that it was similar to Smith’s leadership review, about 91.5% correct.
One of his concerns was that the education minister would now have to approve learning and teaching resources or external presenters for topics dealing with gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality. Another was that schools would be forced to develop a Gay-Straight Alliance if a single student asked for one.
Hilton-O’Brien explained that both of these policies could collide with religious schools and their guidelines for teaching.
Founder of DeTrans Alliance Canada, Kellie Lynn Pirie, told True North that she wished such policies existed when she was a vulnerable youth.
“Socially transitioning a child is not a neutral activity. The majority of youth who socially transition go onto hormones and surgery,” said Lynn Pirie, echoing the statements of Smith, who previously said it’s an almost 100% transition rate from social to literal transition.
“Premier Smith’s new policies ensure that schools cannot initiate a child into a gender transition process without informing their parents,” added Lynn Pirie. “Youth also cannot get a driver’s license without parental consent. There are reasonable constraints placed upon young people.”
Lynn Pirie said that children pay the price for being taught that it is possible to be “born in the wrong body.”
“The policies will encourage a kinder, gentler, more compassionate approach to youth who are different, gender non-conforming, or distressed,” she said. “No child should be told their way of being a boy or girl is so wrong that only pharmaceuticals and surgeries can fix them.”
The motion claimed that the EPSB’s sexual orientation, gender identity and expression policies are so good that they have been used as a model by other school divisions. The board claimed that Smith did not share the opt-in change with them before implementation.
Alberta’s Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told True North that the proposed amendments follow requests from parents who want to be more involved in their child’s education.
“Our team has talked with school boards, teachers, superintendents, parents, and other partners to get their advice and guidance,” he said. “Should the proposed legislation pass, we will continue to consult with our stakeholders throughout the implementation of these policies to ensure the right supports are available where and when they are needed.
