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The New Brunswick child and youth advocate is expected to release his review of changes to the school gender-identity policy this morning.
On June 7, Education Minister Bill Hogan changed the policy on sexual orientation and gender identity. He said the policy now makes it mandatory to deny a request from a child under 16 for a specific name or pronoun unless parents consent.
A week later, Kelly Lamrock was ordered to review the changes to Policy 713 and to hold “full consultations” by an extraordinary vote from the legislature. Six Progressive Conservative MLAs voted in support of the opposition motion, condemning Premier Blaine Higgs’s approach to the issue.
Lamrock said he would consider whether the revised policy followed federal and provincial human rights codes, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international treaties.
Most of New Brunswick’s district education councils are creating their own version of Policy 713, undoing the controversial changes made by the Blaine Higgs government.
He said he would gather the views of MLAs, legal experts, high school students and recent graduates, experts in child development, parents of LGBTQ children, and any New Brunswick residents who wanted to submit written comments.
A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday morning at the Fredericton Convention Centre.
Lamrock’s report was expected to include recommendations, and nothing he says would be binding.
In addition to the parental notification changes, Hogan added a minimum requirement for universal change rooms, on top of the already-mandated universal washrooms. And he removed any reference to gender identity in the section that deals with extracurricular activities.
Concerns over child safety
Hogan said the goal of the changes is to protect “parents’ right to know.” While some parents applauded the changes, professional associations, education experts, child welfare advocates and other parents have spoken out against them.
Lamrock, before receiving the order to review, said Hogan’s changes were “shoddy,” and called for their reversal. He said having specific rules about name changes that apply to some kids but not others is “inadvertently discriminatory.”
He also said it’s possible to address parental concerns about being kept in the dark without putting kids who won’t be accepted at home in danger.
School psychologists said denying a child’s request for a certain name or pronoun causes more harm than using it.
The union representing school psychologists and social workers is currently grieving the policy. The union says it’s against the collective agreement to force them to harm children by denying their right to self-identity.
Two anglophone and two francophone district education councils passed motions to revert to the old policy, mandating that staff must respect all children’s chosen names and pronouns regardless of age and parental consent status.
Council chairs said the old policy is meant to protect children whose only safe space is school.
Hogan said he has not read any of the council policies and said he’s awaiting Lamrock’s report before deciding next steps.
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