As more provinces mention parental rights when it comes to name and pronoun changes for kids in schools, nursing professor and author Martha Paynter says it’s “very discouraging.”
“We know that already LGBTQ youth are disproportionately likely to experience mental illness, homelessness, substance use disorders, and of course, most concerningly, suicidality,” Paytner, an assistant professor at the University of New Brunswick, says.
The premise of the arguments made by some provinces is the need to inform parents about changes to their child’s preferred names or pronouns.
On the surface, it makes sense for parents to have a high level of involvement in their child’s upbringing. But Paynter says we need to be cautious about those who don’t have a safe space.
“If a child is not telling their parents something, it’s because the child is afraid of the parent,” she says. “In this country, we do not have parental rights. You do not govern your child like you own a pet. Rather, we have children’s rights.”
Policy for ‘the absolute most marginalized and vulnerable’
New Brunswick and Saskatchewan are defending their policy changes, which require parental consent to change pronouns and preferred names, while Manitoba’s PC Party is looking to “enhance rights for parents and guardians.”
Meanwhile, Ontario’s education minister was asked Monday about his province’s stance.
“It’s important to note that every school must be safe for every child,” Stephen Lecce said. “I think we understand, though, that parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what’s happening in the life of their children.
“I think we have to respect the rights of parents.”
But Paynter says policies need to be created with the most vulnerable in mind, “not with the idea that most of us have great relationships with our children and lots of trust, and we promote and affirm their gender.”
“That’s not how we have to build policy,” she says. “We have to build it considering the absolute most marginalized and vulnerable among us and make sure we protect them.”
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Nova Scotia’s policy
Becky Druhan, Nova Scotia’s education minister, was not available for an interview Wednesday. But in a statement, she says, “We affirm our support for all members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.”
“Our guidelines have been in place since 2014. We have no plans to create policy in this area,” she says.
Those guidelines say that for primary through Grade 6 students who request “their preferred name, gender identity, and/or gender expression be used,” parental/guardian consent “will be requested.”
Parental or guardian consent isn’t required from grades 7 through 12 “if the student has capacity of consent.”
However, it gets more complicated.
The same document also says it is “important to have a student’s prior permission before disclosing their transgender or gender-nonconforming identity to their parent(s)/guardian(s).”
The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers, along with a slew of other health-care providers and individuals, has requested that those guidelines be updated.
Policy 713 in New Brunswick
New Brunswick was the first province to make headlines when it announced a review of Policy 713 in May.
The original intent of the policy was “to make sure children feel safe and comfortable in their learning environment,” Paynter says.
But in June, the province made several revisions to its policy on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, which has since prompted criticism from the LGBTQ2 community, advocacy groups and educators.
One of those changes requires children under 16 to have parental consent before they can officially change their preferred first names or pronouns at school.
Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick’s child and youth advocate, said those changes violated the Charter.
In response, the province made further tweaks, but the central elements of the controversial policy are still being maintained.
“It’s important for a parent to have involvement in their child’s education,” Education Minister Bill Hogan said last week.
The minister said this rule only applies to students whose names are “attached to a different gender than what they’re identified with their parents” — not for students who would prefer a nickname, such as a child wishing to be called Bob instead of Robert.
“Otherwise, what we’re saying is that we’re keeping information from parents, and that’s not the role of the school,” he said.
Paynter says legal challenges will need to address the concerns.
“Appallingly, it isn’t enough to dissuade ministers in other provinces from following along this path,” Paynter says.
Province could fund legal challenge against itself
It’s become clear that New Brunswick’s Department of Education could fund a legal challenge against the policy.
Harry Doyle, the chair of the Anglophone East District Education Council, says that “doesn’t make any sense to me,” but that “what it means to me is that (the government is) softening their line.”
Global News asked the Department of Education why it would fund a legal challenge against government policy. In response, it pointed to another policy: Policy 126 — the “provision of legal advice to District Education Councils.”
“No fee will be charged to the school districts for legal services provided through the Province under section 6.3.1(a) or (b) when such are initiated in accordance with section 6.1 and 6.2 of this policy,” the document reads.
Doyle says a discussion will need to be had at a Council of DEC Chairs meeting in September to determine if they’d want to use government lawyers.
“We have hired lawyers already,” he says.
“I’m not against parents,” he says. “It’s just sometimes there’s kids that just can’t break this kind of thing to their parents or their grandparents.”
Doyle, who was a principal for more than one-third of his 35-year career in the education system, says he’s more concerned about student safety nowadays.
“I’m a lot more concerned now than when I was principal,” he says.
— with files from Alex Cooke
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