Sask. LGTBQ2S+ group mounts court challenge to stop school 'outing requirement'
CTV
A Saskatchewan LGTBQ2S+ organization has made good on its threat to launch legal action in the hopes of blocking the provincial government's new policy on pronoun changes in schools.
A Saskatchewan LGTBQ2S+ organization has made good on its threat to launch legal action in the hopes of blocking the provincial government's new policy on pronoun changes in schools.
On Aug. 22, Saskatchewan's education minister announced that students under the age of 16 seeking to use a different name or pronoun must obtain parental consent. The move has been widely criticized by LGBTQ2S+ advocates and is currently under review by the provincial government's youth advocate.
Earlier this week the University of Regina Pride Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity (UR Pride) said it would take the matter to court if the policy change wasn't walked back by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
With the deadline passing, UR Pride has filed its paperwork at Regina's Court of King's Bench with the assistance of Egale, which is a national LGBTQ2S+ organization, and McCarthy Tétrault LLP, aToronto-based law firm.
In its application, UR Pride asks the court for an interim order to freeze the new pronoun policy until its legal application can be fully reviewed.
The UR Pride application argues that the consent policy — referred to in the court filing as an "outing requirement" — violates section seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees security.
"The policy presents an impossible choice; be outed at home or be misgendered at school, even in one-on-one counselling sessions with school personnel," the application says.
