In protest of the Alberta United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s announcement of anti-trans policies, students took part in a province-wide school walkout.
On February 1, Premier Danielle Smith introduced education and health policies that many 2SLGBTAIQ+ advocates criticized. If enacted, the policies would intervene in the lives of transgender youths at school and potentially in the home. It would also further restrict access to gender affirming care, straining the mental health of trans youth.
The policies would ban gender affirming care for those under the age of 17 and require youths to get their parents’ permission to have their correct pronouns used in school.
Akira Hesslein, a grade 12 student and transgender teen, organized the school walkout for Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary, AB. During the protest, Hesslein encouraged students to share their own personal stories—she noticed a common theme throughout their experiences.
“A really big component across all the speeches was about how school is a safe space and nowhere else is. They’re scared that they’re going to lose school as a safe space,” said Hesslein.
About 250km north from Calgary, Aspen Cervo led the school walkout for Leduc Composite High School. When he first heard about the UCP policy announcement around transgender youth, Cervo first thought of the wellbeing of his brother.
“My brother, he’s trans and I was scared for him. I wanted to show him I cared, and that he had my support. I also wanted to show all my trans friends that they have my support,” said Cervo.
The UCP’s proposed health policies would limit access to gender affirming care, particularly puberty blockers and hormone therapy—something Cervo is concerned about.
“[My brother’s] been waiting so long for gender affirming care. Now he’s going to have to wait longer. It’s just going to hurt his mental health,” said Cervo.
Both Hesslein and Cervo are just two of the hundreds of student protesters opposing the UCP’s anti-trans policies. According to the Alberta school walkout organizers, around 2,000 students from 50 schools across the province participated—this number is estimated to be higher as some schools have yet to be recorded.
Premier Smith’s statement asserted that these policies would preserve choices for children and youth, but protesters like Hesslein say otherwise.
“What choices are we being left with here? This is actually limiting our choices in how we can express ourselves and where. I’d say that’s totally a misnomer,” said Hesslein.
Research found that anti-trans policies harm 2SLBTQIA+ youth
Fae Johnstone, executive director of The Society of Queer Momentum, speaker and activist on 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, pointed out that these Alberta policies can cause harm to the mental health of trans youth.
“These anti-trans policies, on one level, deny kids the freedom to be themselves at school,” said Johnstone.
“Then if you’re seeing yourself or your friends talked about in a harmful light that insinuates there’s something wrong or unhealthy about you—that further has a negative impact on your mental health,” Johnstone added.
According to a statement from the Alberta Psychiatric Association, research has shown that transgender and non-binary youth are two to three times more likely to experience mental health issues including depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, and self-harm.
Anti-trans policies further exacerbated these mental health concerns. In fact, the 2023 survey out of the US found 33 per cent of queer youth reported a decline in their mental health because of anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation.
Another study from 2022 reported improved mental health when transgender people started hormone therapy in their adolescence compared to starting in adulthood.
As for the medical side of gender affirming care, the Canadian Pediatric Association highlighted that hormonal suppression is reversible—it is a means to allow young people time to explore their gender identity.
Despite the numerous research studies backing the benefits of gender affirming care, the UCP’s health policy would prohibit transgender youth from accessing lifesaving care.
“The baseline is we have horrible access to care—that means that folks are struggling every day with distress that could be alleviated by a timely intervention,” said Johnstone.
Johnstone added that the gender affirming healthcare space is already underfunded with few healthcare professionals to even deliver this type of care. While Premier Smith did acknowledge this gap, stating that the government will be bringing these medical experts into the province, Johnstone has her doubts.
“But when a government is intervening and interfering politically in your specialty of healthcare, why in God’s name would you bother to move to Alberta when you know that the government’s not doing things in alignment with evidence,” said Johnstone.
The Alberta school walkouts were just one of the many protests since Premier Smith’s anti-trans policy announcement. On February 3, rallies in support of transgender youth were held in both Calgary and Edmonton. Other cities have joined in their support with rallies being held in Ontario cities including Ottawa and Kingston.
“We’re not going to stop fighting. We’re going to keep fighting until this bill is struck down,” said Hesslein. “And I promise you, we have a lot more tenacity than they do because we’re fighting for our rights and we’re not going to back down.”
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