N.B. government needs to act 'urgently' on gender identity policy, critics say

LGBTQ students, parents and supporters are applauding an advocate's criticism of New Brunswick's gender-identity policy, but they're still grappling with uncertainty as the school year looms.

On Tuesday, child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock released a 90-page report about changes to Policy 713 made by the Blaine Higgs government. Minister of Education Bill Hogan says it's now mandatory to get consent from parents before allowing a child under 16 to informally change their name or pronoun in school. It's now also mandatory to send children to school psychologists if they don't want to involve their parents. 

Lamrock was charged by MLAs to review these changes and consult with parents and experts. After two months of consultation, he said those changes, and the way the policy is written, violate human rights, privacy and education laws, as well as children's Charter rights.

Lamrock made several recommendations about how to emphasize the role of parents, without forcing staff to break the law and put kids at risk. His recommendations are not binding and it's not clear if the province will follow any of them.

Alex Harris, a Riverview student going into Grade 12, said hearing the advocate's words was a relief because they emphasized students' rights to privacy and equality — something he did not hear from the government.

"Kids deserve privacy and kids deserve rights the same as everybody else," Harris said. "Even if what a kid wants to do isn't quite what their parents want them to do."

However Harris said he's worried about what the school year will look like if the province does not undo its changes.

"My friends are going to get hurt. My friends' home lives are gonna get harder and my life is gonna get harder too. Because now the government has said that it is OK to disrespect people … like me," he said.

District education councils can pass their own policies based on Lamrock's recommendations, and Lamrock said those policies would supersede the provincial one. Higgs said Tuesday that's not correct.

"That would be circumventing the laws," Higgs said.

Liberal Party and Opposition Leader Susan Holt said the province needs to move urgently to accept the recommendations and provide certainty to students, parents and staff.

"What can they expect in New Brunswick schools come the day after Labour Day?" she said.

Holt originally made a motion to revert to the old policy. That motion was amended by Progressive Conservative MLAs to instead order Lamrock to hold consultations. Holt said Lamrock's report achieves her goal, and "went further."

"By adding more language, more clarity," she said.