Union for school psychologists will stand behind members who defy changes to LGBTQ policy
CBC
The union representing school psychologists and social workers has come out against changes to a policy protecting LGBTQ students.
On Thursday, Minister of Education Bill Hogan announced changes to Policy 713, which sets minimum standards for providing a safe learning environment for queer and trans students.
Hogan said the new policy now forbids teachers and staff from using the chosen name or pronoun — officially or unofficially — of a child under 16 without parental consent.
Susie Proulx-Daigle is president of the New Brunswick Union, which represents mental health professionals in schools. She said her members will not be forced to deny a child's chosen name and pronoun, no matter what the minister says.
"We're prepared to file grievances on behalf of our members because we don't want our members to be forced to misgender students," she said. "That's wrong, that's absolutely wrong … It's just not respectful and we feel it's unreasonable."
Proulx-Daigle said the union is considering filing a grievance against the whole new policy, and lawyers are currently looking at options.
The union is one of many organizations and individuals speaking out against the changes to the policy.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has said the changes "violate the rights and dignity" of LGBTQ youth, and the new policy "is not in the best interests of children and will cause harm to trans and non-binary kids."
The New Brunswick Women's Council said the changes "unequivocally roll back options and protections for trans students in the school system."
Two senators, René Cormier from New Brunswick and Kim Pate from Ontario, have written a letter urging the government to undo the changes related to names and pronouns.
"While this review seemed harmless to many, let's remember that any challenge to minority rights is a threat to the integrity of the right in question," the senators wrote.
Policy 713 has always stipulated that the school must get parental consent to make a name and pronoun change official for kids under 16.
The change announced Thursday relates to what happens if the child says no to including parents in the conversation.
The new policy says if the child declines to involve the parents to make their name change official, then they should be referred to a school social worker or school psychologist to "work with them in development of a plan to speak with their parents if and when they are ready to do so."
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