Thousands of students left school in Alberta on Friday to protest against the Kenney government's overturning the law prohibiting school personnel from telling parents if their child joins a GSA.
Thousands of Alberta students — carrying signs like "Hey, Kenney, leave us alone: The Gays" and "Are your tax cuts more important than queer youth?" — walked out of their classes Friday morning to protest the new UCP government's position on gay-straight alliances (GSAs). ...
However, Premier Jason Kenney repeated Friday that his party's plan would maintain "the strongest legal protection for gay-straight alliances in the country."
The student-led protests spanned about 90 schools across the province, with participating teens stepping out of their classrooms at 9:30 a.m. MT for 20 minutes. Many schools saw dozens to hundreds of students walk out — despite snow falling in Edmonton, Fort McMurray and other parts of northern Alberta. ...
LGBTQ rights advocates say notifying parents who do not approve of their child's sexuality could lead to suicides and dangerous situations at home. The risk of being outed, they say, would deter kids from joining clubs and finding support. "We think that this is a problem because in some cases parents might not be very accepting of their child and it could pose a danger to their child. This is not to say that all parents are going to do this but there are definitely some," Grade 10 student Aimee told the Calgary Eyeopener. Additionally, we believe that it should be up to the child themselves of when they want to come out and how they want to come out." ...
Many students, like Alyssa Gabriel, echoed that message. Gabriel, who is gay, studies in Edmonton, and although her parents are supportive, she marched for her friends. "I have a lot of gay friends who think the GSA is very important to them, and it's their little safe space and they have homophobic parents," Gabriel said. "But now with this [proposed] rule, it's not like a safe space anymore. They can't be there anymore 'cause they don't want to tell their parents they're gay because they might get kicked out."
Protesters held signs with slogans, such as, "Hey, Kenney, leave us alone — The Gays," "Are your tax cuts more important than queer youth?" and "It's my choice, not yours. #KeepOurSafeSpacesSafe."
Sean Ruhland, one of hundreds of students who marched at William Aberhart High School in northwest Calgary, said his school's GSA was helpful when he came to terms with his identity as a gay transgender man. He's graduating this year and said he wanted to protect other students' ability to come out to their parents on their own time. "[The UCP] do not care. They do not care about youth, they do not care about future generations," Ruhland told Radio-Canada. "And they simply do not care about the quality of education in schools."