The organizer of an event focused on public school sexual orientation and gender identity policies can’t find a place to hold rallies — and at least one person believes that’s just fine.
For the past two years, Armstrong resident David Hamilton has been trying to put on his event, entitled For the Sake of the Children.
He said the goal is to discuss the public school system’s sexual orientation and gender identity resource material.
“Let’s have an open (exchange) … not a debate, not a discourse, just a question and answer period for the people,” Hamilton said. “SOGI (proponents) can present their (views), our side can present theirs, and then the people can walk away with the information and make their own decisions.”
The event had been scheduled to go ahead at the Vernon Sikh temple on Saturday. However, shortly after it was announced, the temple began receiving community feedback and changed its mind.
While he declined to speak on camera, the temple’s president told Global News it was a mistake and the event was cancelled.
Hamilton wasn’t surprised and said proponents of SOGI have launched a phone-call campaign every time he’s planned to run the event.
“Why are they doing this? I don’t know,” he said. “They say we do all this stuff, but they’re doing exactly what they accuse us of. Why don’t they just come to the table?”
One LGBTQ+ advocate from Kelowna said he was invited to the event by Hamilton, but rejected the offer, citing safety concerns.
“The people he’s invited to be on those panels have put forth some pretty fantastic conspiracy theories that take away from any credibility,” said Wilbur Turner.
It’s a topic that continues to cause controversy despite being around for years.
There’s an abundance of SOGI information available on the Ministry of Education’s website. It explains that SOGI-inclusive education means having conversations about diversity and learning the importance of treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Also, SOGI 123 learning resources have been formally evaluated by the BC Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium as age-appropriate, and aligned with the provincial curriculum and evidence-based educational approaches.
Readers who haven’t canvassed the material can find it online.
Nonetheless, a recent school board meeting in Vernon addressing SOGI had to be cancelled after one woman began shouting disapproval of it. Board members had to leave the meeting to end it.
Turner says incidents like this are a reminder of why SOGI is so critical.
“It’s really important for these vulnerable kids to actually see themselves represented in the public education system, in the curriculum, and to not be afraid to be themselves,” he said.
Hamilton said he will continue to try and put on event.
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