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"New Alberta guidelines go beyond bathroom use by transgender students"
edmontonjournal.com
That information is contained in a new guide to help Alberta’s 61 school boards revise regulations and hash out new policies by March 31 to protect the rights of LGBTQ students and teachers, support gay-straight alliances and create a safe learning environment.
'I don’t want to say this is a legal document … It’s a living process by which we can develop these policies in the best faith and circumstance that we can afford all of our students,' Education Minister David Eggen said, noting while government creates laws, school boards are elected to set policies to reflect the law.
The guidelines aren’t binding, but a special government team will review the policies and help shape ones that fall short.
The issue came to the forefront in 2015 when a seven-year-old transgender girl in one Edmonton Catholic school wanted to start using the girls’ washroom, but was initially advised to use a gender-neutral bathroom on-site.
Since then, Edmonton’s Catholic school board has struggled to create a policy to protect transgender students and last approved second reading of a one-page document that didn’t go far enough for Eggen. The policy states all members of the school community “have the right to an environment free of unjust discrimination, prejudice and harassment.”
The new government guidelines say policies and regulations must 'explicitly' protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirit, queer, questioning and/or gender-diverse students, teachers and family members. The document says all students have the right to be addressed by their chosen name and with pronouns that match their gender identity.
School dress codes should be revisited to ensure they don’t imply skirts can be worn only by females. Gender-segregated activities, including sports teams, should ensure students who are gender-diverse have the right to participate in activities congruent with their gender identity. Students should also be able to choose which washroom to use.
Marilyn Bergstra, chairwoman of Edmonton Catholic school board, said the guidelines are impressive, clear and exactly what her board wanted.
'This is not a Catholic issue,' Bergstra said, adding that the St. Albert Catholic board has a strong policy. 'This is just something that boards need to work through and incorporate. … I’m very pro-LGBTQ standards and policies, so my wish would be that every single word in that document is adopted..."
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