London, Ont., high school students rally to support trans youth in the U.S.
CBC
More than a hundred high school students at HB Beal Secondary School in London, Ont., walked out of class on Thursday to protest anti-LGBTQ laws in the United States.
A new law in Texas calls to investigate parents and doctors who provide transgender children with gender-affirming care. The American Civil Liberties Union announced on Twitter it has filed a lawsuit to block the directive.
Meanwhile in Florida, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, according to a Thursday report from NBC. The bill censors LGBTQ education in classrooms. Critics call it the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
Moments after the noon bell rang in London, students rallied across from the school, on King Street, expressing opposition and sharing accounts of their own lived experiences with anti-trans discrimination.
"It's so important when in a situation where there are people in faraway places being oppressed and being discriminated against like this, it is so vital for global communities, not just states or countries, to rally around these youths and let them know that we are here for them," said walkout organizer and grade 11 student Will Rollo, age 16.
"We will not let them be mistreated. We are a united front that will not be bullied into letting these oppressive laws and systems be pushed upon us."
Many of the students waved flags representing the LGBTQ communities. Ireland Burleigh, 17, held a sign that read, "We see you trans Texas."
"I am a trans person," said Burleigh. "I've personally experienced hatred and bigotry simply because of who I am and the things that are happening in Texas right now are not OK. These are children and they are harming them. And if I can do something to help them, I will."
William Walls, 14, said that politics in the U.S. have an impact in Canada.
"There isn't much we can do from here," they said, "but we can help to normalize this behaviour of protesting for our rights."
Participants willing to tell their stories took turns speaking through a white megaphone. The others cheered, hugged and held hands as they listened.
By the time the allotted half hour for the rally had passed, a handful of students were still in line to speak.
Rollo called the turnout "encouraging."
"We will not stop doing demonstrations like this and walking out until no trans kid has to worry about whether or not they will have a safe place to sleep at night, or whether or not they can present authentically," he said.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.