In Canada, the rights of trans youth are at risk with a new wave of policies and social movements that could threaten their very lives. This growing movement for what the organizers call, “parental rights” over their children’s education and identities was on display on September 20, 2023, when thousands across the country gathered for the 1 Million March 4 Children, protesting education on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in schools. This protest is part of a fast-growing movement of families, politicians, and organizations around the country.
As provincial governments across Canada, notably Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, added rules that ban students under 16 from changing their pronouns without parental consent, the rights of trans children within the education system returned to the political spotlight. Increased media attention and more discourse on social media about the policies exponentially increased the number of parents invested in parental rights and the 1 Million March 4 Children. For Celeste Trianon, a trans activist from Quebec credited with organizing and platforming many counter-protests to anti-trans rallies, the 1 Million March is a particularly worrying sign. Unlike anti-drag protests she had encountered, which were largely comprised of niche far-right groups, it seemed that the 1 Million March had galvanized the support of parents and families from all walks of life. “It was different,” Trianon tells Teen Vogue. “It [was a level] of violence that so few people had managed to expect.”
At the root of what they see as parental rights is a campaign of disinformation. Online, parents propagate a variety of problematic myths that correlate trans and queer identities with being a pedophile and collectively post hateful comments toward displays that allude to any sort of support for queer communities or SOGI. According to Trianon, it’s gotten so loud that it’s bringing people without any ties to the queer and trans community into the anti-LGBTQ+ fold.
On Canada’s West Coast, the 1 Million March is an equally worrying sign to supporters of SOGI education. In British Columbia, where comprehensive SOGI education outside of sex education was first piloted in Canada and then to Alberta, educators are critical of changing the narrative. Quinn Casey, a teacher who promotes inclusive education in BC, says the so-called parental rights movement is eerily reminiscent of the Save Our Children coalition in the US, which, starting in the late ‘70s, demonized queer teachers and adults and began a mass disinformation campaign that convinced many across the country that queer people were out to “recruit” their children. Similarly, the most common misconception about SOGI education is that teachers are “encouraging kids to be nonbinary or trans or encouraging them to medically transition,” says Casey. “It’s really not about cementing an identity, so much as it is exploring identity, especially at an early age. That needs to be something that’s not suppressed, that’s not [shameful], that’s not stifled or destroyed. That’s what we’re encouraging for kids — safe exploration.”
Much of the messaging around the movement claims it is here to protect all children from “gender ideology,” which according to the movement’s members, is everything from gender-neutral washrooms to pronouns. Ironically, through the binary ideas of identity and expression that they push onto families, they propagate their own form of gender ideology. “If the parents [participating in the 1 Million March] are being honest…they’re not protecting all parents or children. They’re not protecting queer parents who want all kids to have queer-inclusive education. They’re not protecting queer kids, obviously. They’re being remarkably transphobic.” Casey tells Teen Vogue.
In part, this movement is also gaining traction, likely as a result of a wave of transphobic policy proposals that have brought conversations surrounding the rights of trans youth to the forefront of both conservative parties and movements. Similar to Indiana’s laws that notify parents when children change their name or pronouns and Florida’s bill that requires teachers to use the pronouns that correspond to someone’s sex, the provincial government in New Brunswick has made it mandatory for children under 16 to get parental consent to change their name or pronouns. The province’s education minister claimed that it is a “parent’s right” what pronouns their child ought to be addressed with, thus teachers who choose to respect the student’s chosen name and pronouns could be disciplined. Although the policy acknowledges that not all children are ready to speak with parents, the solutions suggested are difficult for children to orchestrate, such as getting in contact with an “appropriate professional.”
Saskatchewan’s government has followed, going as far as invoking the notwithstanding clause, which allows provincial parliaments to override certain rights enshrined in Canada’s charter, to pass a similar “parental rights” bill. The policies in both provinces have been met with significant pushback, including lawsuits from prominent organizations like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, and alternate policy proposals from district education councils in New Brunswick to respect students' chosen name and pronouns. Even federally, the Conservative party, which is currently projected to win the next election in 2025, proposed a policy if they gain a majority in Parliament that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors.
Despite the 1 Million March website claiming that limiting SOGI education protects kids, in reality, this and other policies surrounding bathrooms or health care put queer and trans students in danger. These policies could likely cost lives. Many queer and trans students don’t have the privilege of having supportive families and being outed could risk their safety at home. For many students like myself, who weren’t ready to come out, the absence of these laws allowed us to learn to freely explore our gender in a place we knew was safe. There’s also a huge problem with bullying of trans and queer students. According to Trianon, bullying, which often “tramples on someone for an entire lifetime,” has “become a crisis on a scale that is indescribable.” SOGI curriculum and other gender-inclusive policies not only educate and protect all children, regardless of how they identify, but they also signal to students that their school will always be an accepting and welcoming space to express themselves authentically.
Learning about family inclusivity and different identities is not the inappropriate ideology the protesters try to paint it as. It’s about learning not just to be tolerant of others, but to be accepting and empathetic to all people no matter what they identify as. For the most part, these conversations focus on things like romantic orientation or teaching kids how to be welcoming to gender-nonconforming students in their school. In Casey’s school, they’ve observed that SOGI education has dramatically improved students’ understanding of queer and trans communities. They are taught to use gender-neutral language and to productively call out people who make homophobic or transphobic remarks. Most importantly, though, SOGI education teaches how to think critically about the gender binary. “You don’t necessarily need to be trans to experience transphobia,” says Casey. “Liberating trans people and nonbinary people first and foremost will liberate everyone.”
For children who come from families that are not accepting of their identities, having standardized classes can be crucial to combat misinformation and misconceptions about LGBTQ+ people. To many queer and trans adults who didn’t have access to it, SOGI curriculum likely would’ve been life-changing. “I remember feeling heteronormativity at five or six years old, every book being about a prince and a princess. And I just remember really early on that imprinted myself in my mind. It formed a template, a prophecy that I was meant to fulfill,” Casey says. “We need fairy tales, stories, and children’s literature [about queer and trans people.]” Queer and trans kids shouldn’t have to find their identities by surfing Reddit forums or making queer friends online.
“Imagine being told that being trans is a possibility. It'd be a game changer for all the closeted trans youth. It does not transition cisgender kids. It's gonna make them be more inclusive, be more tolerant” says Trianon. “The recent wave of hatred thrown toward inclusive education and trans students should be all we need to understand why SOGI curriculum is so important. It’s there to raise a generation of people who accept and celebrate other people regardless of their gender or how they express themselves. It’s there to protect all children.”
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