EDMONTON – A video of a mother rapping about her opposition to Alberta’s new guidelines for accommodating transgender students in schools is making waves across the Internet.
The guidelines include what LGBTQ students can wear, what sports they can play and which washrooms they can use – the latter of which has some parents upset.
“Come on, come on, who has all the fuss /over transgender washrooms we discuss,” the mother of three starts the music video.
READ MORE: The fight for trans rights: a matter of life and death
She goes on to equate being transgender with losing identity, and speculates that there are only a handful of children “who switch gender pretense” in Alberta, therefore it’s not an issue worth pursuing.
“This is just a fender bender, all over sex and gender/ why make reality skewed, and create identity confused?” the mother raps in one chorus. She finishes by telling fathers and mothers to seize the day and pray.
READ MORE: Albertans ‘Twitter bomb’ premier and education minister over LGBTQ policy
The rap is called “Gender Bender by M H Wiebe,” and the video contains a link to a conservative website that describes Alberta’s new transgender guidelines as illegal, and presents several arguments supporting that stance. The site does not say who is running it, and no contact information is listed.
As of Friday morning, the video had been viewed over 48,000 times since it was uploaded March 8. The numbers spiked this week when an online news magazine picked up the video.
New York-based Mic shared it to their 118,000 Twitter followers and 1.5 million Facebook fans, calling it offensive to both transgender people and hip hop itself.
Others on Twitter also expressed their disappointment over the video.
The guidelines, introduced in January, address a range of issues, but specify that transgender students be allowed to use the washroom of their choice, depending on their gender or on whether they perceive themselves to be a girl or a boy.
The guidelines are meant to help Alberta’s 61 school boards draft policies to keep LGBTQ students welcome and safe. The drafts are to be submitted to the province for review at the end of March.
READ MORE: Clock ticking down on deadline for Alberta school boards’ LGBTQ policies
One Alberta school division has decided to defy the education minister and not submit a policy. In February, the Fort Vermilion School Division board decided their current policy was good as-is.
This week, over 1,000 people attended a public meeting to discuss policies protecting LGBTQ students in Lethbridge public schools.
WATCH: School District 51 attracts thousands of people at gender policy meeting. Kimberly Tams reports.
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