Policy 713 and kids: Fact checking 4 statements made by the premier
Policy doesn't change sex-ed curriculum and makes no mention of drag storytime
WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide
A month after beginning a review of an education policy that protects LGBTQ youth, Premier Blaine Higgs has revealed exactly what is being reviewed and why.
Policy 713 was introduced in 2020 to guarantee minimum support for LGBTQ students. This includes things like making sure teachers use students' correct pronouns and that gender-neutral washrooms are available.
On Tuesday, Higgs said the review is being done for parents' sake.
The policy says if a child wants an informal name or pronoun change to be used in the classroom, then the teacher would need the child's consent to share that fact with the parent. Higgs said the province will study this part of the policy as it may not be appropriate because it takes away parents' rights.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Higgs made a number of statements. The CBC has fact-checked four of them.
1. The policy is keeping parents in the dark and taking away a parent's right to know about a name change.
Parents must sign off on any official name changes for children under 16, and that rule has not been changed. The policy adds a line about an informal name or pronoun change requiring the child's consent to share that with the parent.
Gail Costello, the co-chair of Pride in Education, a non-profit that contributed to the implementation of the policy, said teachers have never been obligated to share informal name changes with parents, and this policy is not revoking any previous obligation or parental right.
Costello retired from Oromocto High School after teaching for 30 years. She said she's seen a lot of kids who would be in danger, and possibly isolated or kicked out of their homes, if their parents knew they were trans or gay. She said this is why she would never tell a parent about a name or pronoun change without consent from the student — but she also has never been asked.
Costello said she ran the school's Gay/Straight Alliiance for at least 10 years. "I never, ever, ever had a parent even inquire about it," she said. "If they had, I wouldn't have told them."
Higgs said "Kids are kids and adults are adults," and parents are responsible for their children. But Costello said the safety of the students trumps the parents' desire to know what name their children go by.
"The parents are not going to be in any risk whatsoever to find out that their [child] goes by John as opposed to Joan at school," Costello said.
"But it is important for the kids to be able to use the name that they feel more comfortable with. It's good for their mental health."
2. Higgs said parental abuse and lack of acceptance "may exist," and it "may be a reality" that outing kids is harmful because some parents are homophobic.
Abuse of LGBTQ children by some parents is a reality.
According to Dr. Alex Abramovich with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, up to 40 per cent of youth struggling with homelessness in North America identify as LGBTQ, and the majority are on the street because of abuse and homophobia at home.
"Family violence and rejection are associated with serious physical and mental health outcomes among [those] youth, including post-traumatic stress disorder, increased risk of suicide, anxiety, depression and substance use," he said.
Costello said some of her students in Oromocto had been kicked out for being outed or discovered as gay or trans, and some of them had slept on park benches for days before she found out.
"I had a student who was very, very worried about being physically abused and kicked out," she said. "This student had a bag prepared, had a friend's parent's phone number, had a little money in bag."
Costello also said some students feel they don't have a way out.
LGBTQ youth '3 times more likely to attempt suicide'
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 in Canada, after accidents, according to Statistics Canada. Since 2016, about 3,000 youth in that age group died by suicide.
LGBTQ youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide, according to research conducted by JAMA Pediatrics, and trans youth are six times as likely. Those numbers are higher in a more recent Canadian Medical Journal study.
3. Drag queen storytime is an example of why the review is needed.
Higgs said he doesn't think elementary and kindergarten children should attend drag queen storytime events, asking "Are we trying to teach tolerance and acceptance, or are we trying to teach promotion?"
In fact, Policy 713 does not address drag storytime, and it does not change the sex-education curriculum or what kids are taught in schools. It outlines how trans and gay kids can be protected from discrimination and provides guidelines to administrators on how to make schools safe.
Also, LGBTQ history and education does not make people gay, according to the American Psychiatric Association and many other experts. Conversion therapy is illegal in Canada not only because it's harmful to LGBTQ people, but also because there is no scientific data that shows changing someone's sexuality is possible.
4. Higgs "can't comment" on whether kitty litter conspiracy theory is true or false.
Child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock said the review appears to have been prompted by a total of three emails to the department over the 30 months since Policy 713 was adopted. The government has said there were more than three complaints.
One of the three emails that Lamrock references asks about a widespread but debunked belief that students can identify as animals and use litter boxes in schools.
There are no reports from anywhere of children identifying as cats or being provided with kitty litter. The premier said he "doesn't think" the conspiracy theory is true, but would not say it's false.
The theory has in fact been debunked in many jurisdictions including Quebec and Prince Edward Island (in 2021), as well as many places in the United States.
IF YOU NEED HELP:
CHIMO hotline: 1-800-667-5005 / http://www.chimohelpline.ca
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566
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