'A lot of pushback': A look at the 18 letters sent to Sask. ahead of school pronoun policy

The Saskatchewan government received 18 official complaints in the summer before it implemented a rule preventing most children from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.

The Saskatchewan government received 18 official complaints in the summer before it implemented a rule preventing most children from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.

The emails, recently obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request, were received in June and July and offer a first look into what may have influenced the government when it changed pronoun and sexual education rules in August.

The rules require students under 16 who want to change their names or pronouns to have permission from their parents. Third-party organizations are also banned from presenting sexual education, and parents can pull their children from such courses.

In the letters to the government, the complainants ask Saskatchewan to do something about pronouns, sexual education and Pride activities in schools.

Most urge the province to follow the New Brunswick government, which required parental consent over pronoun or name changes before Saskatchewan did.

It's not known if the letter writers are Saskatchewan residents. The names and addresses are redacted.

"If New Brunswick can take a stand against this UN-backed deterioration of our society surely Saskatchewan can also take a stand as well," says one letter.