New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have both introduced legislation that requires schools to get consent from parents in order to have a student’s pronouns changed. A recent study shows that almost half of Canadian parents agree.
With Ontario appearing to be trying to introduce the same requirements, a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute says 78 percent of Canadian parents think they should be at least informed if their child wants to change pronouns at school.
The poll asked 3,016 parents from across Canada if they think the decision should be up to the child, if they think they should be informed, or if they think they should be informed and give consent for the change to happen. Saskatchewan had the lowest percentage of parents who think it should be left up to the child, with just 10 percent. Meanwhile Atlantic Canada had the highest percentage, with 23 percent.
The introduction of policy 713 in New Brunswick has caused outrage and controversy. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it’s concerned that the policy may violate students’ human rights, even after New Brunswick’s education minister clarified the policy following backlash from a children and youth advocate.
Meanwhile, a different study of American LGBTQ+ youth showed that 45 percent of the more than 33,000 children who they surveyed said they had considered suicide at some point. That number jumps up to over 50 percent for non-binary and transgender youth. The report says that the children who said they felt supported by their families were reported attempting suicide at less than half the rate of those who felt low or moderate social support.
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