Higgs greets marchers opposing LGBTQ rights
CBC
Premier Blaine Higgs and his education minister joined a noisy march against LGBTQ policies in schools on Wednesday, a decision that was quickly denounced by supporters of gay and trans rights.
Higgs waded into a crowd of about 250 people on the front lawn of the New Brunswick Legislature, shaking hands with people carrying signs denouncing sex education and LGBTQ rights.
"Nice to see you," he was heard telling one marcher.
One person the premier greeted was holding a sign that said "Stop normalizing sex and nudity." A woman Higgs spoke to carried a sign that said "I need real education, not sex."
About 100 people supporting LGBTQ rights and inclusive school policies to protect them held a counter-protest across the street from the march.
"I asked him if he was going to come over to this side, to get some selfies with the people over here," said Jeanne Currie of Fredericton, one of the counter-protesters with the Pride group.
"I think as the premier of the province, he should be over here as well. These people are just asking to be safe in schools. They're just asking to live their lives the way they want to live them, and no one should take that away from them."
In fact, Higgs left the legislature lawn without crossing the street to meet the counter-protestors.
"This situation is about parents and about the role parents play with their kids, and obviously that is not the position the others are taking," he explained.
The march was one of dozens held across Canada described by organizers as a "1 Million March 4 Children" protesting LGBTQ-inclusive education policies in the classroom and in extracurricular settings under the banner of parental rights.
Critics and researchers say the term "parental rights" is a misnomer because it doesn't address the concerns of LGBTQ parents or parents of LGBTQ children.
At one point Wednesday morning, the marchers and the counter-protesters in Fredericton shouted loudly at each other for several minutes from sidewalks on two sides of Queen Street, with several police officers standing between them on the closed roadway.
"The premier has created a situation where New Brunswickers are yelling at each other in the streets," Opposition Liberal leader Susan Holt said on social media.
"The only way forward is listening, with love and respectful dialogue."
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