Thousands Protest Kenney's Attack on Gay Straight Alliances

10 posts / 0 new

Sun, 2019-05-05 02:22

jerrym

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."

Sun, 2019-05-05 02:29

jerrym

The following url includes comments from a gay man about how bad it was in the past. The Cons pumped out their usual BS comment on the protests (see the bottom of the post).

More than 200 students rallied outside Western Canada High School on Friday morning as part of a provincewide walkout organized to protest the UCP government’s proposed policies on gay-straight alliances.

The 20-minute walkout, which coincided with rallies at other schools across the city and province, was also attended by a crowd of supporters who cheered for the students on 17th Avenue S.W.

Rally participants carried signs with messages supporting GSAs and students chanted phrases like “love is love.”

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said during the election campaign a UCP government would replace the NDP-drafted education law with older, unproclaimed legislation. That would have the effect of undoing several GSA provisions, including a ban on schools informing parents if their children join such a club.

Grade 11 student Rosemary Morrison said parents being notified of a student’s participation in a GSA could “really endanger some of the LGBTQ youth. We’re out here protesting that, trying to protect our friends and our families and all the people we love from dangerous policies,” she said.

Avery Hewitt said GSAs exist for youth who aren’t out yet to feel safe.

“And somewhere where they can express their gender or sexuality without having to come out to their parents,” Hewitt said. “So telling the parents is not making it a safe space anymore.” ...

Aimee, a Grade 10 student who declined to give her surname and one of the organizers of Alberta School Walkout, said if teachers are the ones telling parents about their child’s involvement with a GSA, that would be the “most impersonal way for them to come out. Not only is it not safe for everyone, but it also should be up to the individual themselves to decide when,” she said.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange issued a statement on the student-led walkout, saying the United Conservative government does not support mandatory parental notification or “outing” of any student.

“We do strongly support efforts to make our schools in Alberta free from bullying, by providing peer support, counselling and safe spaces for all students in our province, especially those subject to bullying or prejudice because of their sexual identity,” she said. “As minister, I do want to meet with passionate, young Albertans to understand their concerns and clarify any misunderstandings about our position. I believe that we share the same values in wanting a strong, vibrant and inclusive education system that protects students against discrimination and bullying.”

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/love-is-love-calgary-students-...

Sun, 2019-05-05 11:11

quizzical

Kenney's response was "if the students want to be political and protest they should do it outside schools hours"

loved one teenagers response when he said; "we can't vote right now Mr Kenney but we will be voting in 4 years".

Sun, 2019-05-05 12:29

Martin N.

If the ban is removed, does that compel school officials to 'out' students? I see the hand of the god squad at work but is this change a political contrivance to assuage the religious zealots or is Kenney pushing a personal position?

Mon, 2019-05-06 12:00

(Reply to #4) #5

jerrym

Martin N. wrote:

I see the hand of the god squad at work but is this change a political contrivance to assuage the religious zealots or is Kenney pushing a personal position?

Or both.

Mon, 2019-05-06 12:32

(Reply to #5) #6

voice of the damned

Martin N. wrote:

If the ban is removed, does that compel school officials to 'out' students?

Right now, the law prohibits officials from informing parents that students are in a GSA, so repealing that particular law would simply mean that a given official could, if he or she wanted, inform the parents. I think if you wanted to make it mandatory for parents to be informed, you would have to write that into a new law.

Mon, 2019-05-06 12:38

voice of the damned

By the way, would it be possible to get this thread placed in the glbqt forum? It fits the bill, and it would be nice for that forum to get some traffic. I think the last post there was 2017.

Mon, 2019-05-06 12:47

WWWTT

Special thanks to jerrym for starting this thread with links :)

It also touches on the point that people under the age of 18 are effected by acts of government, but can’t vote!

Good old western democracy, serving the elite at the expense of everyone.

Mon, 2019-05-06 12:54

(Reply to #8) #9

WWWTT

voice of the damned wrote:

By the way, would it be possible to get this thread placed in the glbqt forum? It fits the bill, and it would be nice for that forum to get some traffic. I think the last post there was 2017.

I automatically assumed it was? I always jump to active topics and don’t pay attention. But I agree with you! LGBQT is a very import part of rabble (and I mean every letter in LGBTQ!) and I enjoy reading/discussing and debating!

Mon, 2019-05-06 16:02

(Reply to #9) #10

jerrym

voice of the damned wrote:

By the way, would it be possible to get this thread placed in the glbqt forum? It fits the bill, and it would be nice for that forum to get some traffic. I think the last post there was 2017.

I put this under Canadian politics because it has national implications in that Cons elsewhere may copy this and because the last post to the the LBGTQ thread is dated November 17, 2017. The previous thread to that had its last post on June 27 2017. So if this is important to you start posting there.