May 10, 2011
Parents in Burnaby protest anti-discrimination policy
By
Michelle Reid
The Burnaby school district is under fire from parents who are concerned about a new inclusive policy whose "objective is to ensure all school community members learn to work together in an atmosphere of respect and safety "free from homophobia, transphobia, antigay harassment and exclusion, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity."
It's hard for me to wrap my head around why parents would be protesting a policy that wants to make a school a safer place for children- especially since one of the parents who opposes the policy is aware of the awful fact that trans and queer children are 16 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight, cis-gendered peers. All the same, parents are arguing that teaching tolerance about sexual identities infringes on a parent's right to give moral guidance to their child and that the issues of sexual and gender minorities affect only "a few" students. This is a heartbreaking attitude when you consider that most queer students feel unsafe in schools, many are physically assaulted, and most are verbally assaulted.
Parents should support any initiative that seeks to make schools a safer, happier place for all students. The protest and fear of children being "sexualized" or led morally astray speaks volumes about the ignorance and bigoted attitudes of those parents. It isn't enough to say, as many of the parents do, that essentially while they don't "have a problem" with queer and transfolk, they don't want to hear about them in their children's schools. That is, in fact, having a problem with queer and transfolk; it's called homophobia, and their protests are a demonstration of the necessity of having these issues raised thoughtfully in schools. Clearly many children aren't being taught tolerance, respect and understanding at home.
Tag(s):
Gender,
health promotion,
Sexuality Rights
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