School division responds to new transgender policies
By Lethbridge Herald on February 2, 2024.
Herald file photo - Parents and children gather in front of the Lethbridge School Division offices as a public forum was held regarding the division’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy, during a school board meeting last June.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge School Division on Thursday issued a statement regarding the possible impact of new Alberta transgender policies.
After releasing a video speaking about new transgender policies in the province on Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith addressed the media Thursday which prompted the statement from LSD.
Smith started her press conference by addressing transgender individuals by stating she cares deeply about their wellbeing and happiness.
“I support you in becoming the person that you want to be or who you already are, and as premier of this province I will ensure your rights are always protected,” said Smith.
And when referring to children who identify as transgender, Smith said these policies are being implemented to protect their choices regarding altering their physical body until they have grown mature enough to make such choices safely and with full understanding.
“These policies include a prohibition on gender reassignment surgeries for minors aged 17 and under, for children aged 15 and under puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the purpose of gender reassignment will also not be permitted, with the exception of those who’ve already commenced their treatment,” said Smith.
She added that at this time for minors aged 16 and 17 who wish to start hormone therapies for gender reassignment purposes, this will only be permitted with parental, physician and psychologist approval and consent.
“In our classrooms, we will ensure discussions about gender identity and other sensitive subjects happen at the right time and with the parent-child relationship at its core. This will include a parental opt-in consent requirement when teachers plan to discuss subject matter related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or sexuality for K-12 students,” she said.
Smith said in addition, children aged 15 and under will require parental notification and consent before their name or pronouns are changed in school.
“For minors age 16 and 17 parental consent won’t be required for this, but parents will be have to be notified.”
To this the Lethbridge School Division, which follows Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policies within their schools, released the following statement.
“Lethbridge School Division is committed to creating welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments for our students, families and school staff. Parental support and communication between schools and parents, guardians and caregivers are at the core of this commitment. As always, the Division will continue to work closely with parents, guardians, and caregivers as essential partners in the educational process.
“Our division continues to support every student that enters our schools each and every day,” said board chair Allison Purcell.
“We will continue to work together with our students, staff and families as we continue this journey. There are many unanswered questions regarding implementation of the changes outlined in the government announcement. As a Board we will continue to ask important questions. We are thinking of our transgender students and families as they navigate how this may impact them.”
The statement adds that the Alberta Education Act directs boards to provide notice to a parent of a student where courses, programs of study or instructional materials or instruction or exercises include subject matter that deals primarily and explicitly with religion or human sexuality.
“The Act gives parents the option to exclude their child from instruction on these topics, without academic penalty. Clarification is being sought on what the government’s new opt-in requirement, officially announced today, will entail.”
18-17
Social engineering is not governance.
What’s next? Anti-miscegenation laws?
Ludicrous comment Sophie. Social engineering is taking the parental rights and turning them over to experts you agree with. Majority disagrees with you.
Legislation will be presented in the fall. What has been put before us is the basic proposal. Lots of room for discussion and adjustment before it comes for a vote. It is definitely a “stink bomb” planted into the middle of the upcoming leadership campaign of the NDP. Massive support for this proposal across the country. The mental gymnastics of the candidates will be interesting.
I usually disagree with everything that comes out of dear leaders mouth …..: but I’m not sure I disagree with this …. having some cognitive dissonance.
https://youtu.be/DJYYaYSe1Cg?si=RWPt1E8ciJHv13Fk
From Sky News Australia. Worth viewing.
“Overall, we rate Sky News Australia Right-Biased based on story selection and editorial positions that mostly favor the right. We also rate them borderline Questionable and Mixed for factual reporting due to several failed fact checks, unproven claims, and the promotion of conspiracy theories and misinformation.”
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/sky-news-australia/
So basically it is shoot the messenger. So I take it you would support this mess teaching your children in kindergarten? She/He/they can’t make up their own mind should be no where near a kindergarten. Happy to see you support her. BTW. Latest pole nationally 98% with Smith. Too bad.
this is a tricky and important set of issues. on the one had we have the right of a person to be the final and sole arbiter of their body (unfortunately, and to the extent of crimes against humanity proportion, this inalienable is hardly near well enough legally acknowledged); on the other hand, we have the question of when is a person of enough maturity to be able to make reasonable enough decisions on significant matters.
at present, 18 is by and large the age of adulthood, although some provinces believe 19 is more appropriate at times. meanwhile, 16 generally speaking is an age of consent for sex, and is also an age for various other decisions legally available to under 18s. yet, can one get married without parental consent at the age of 16? do we see marriage – which one can step into and out of quite easily – as more profound a choice than significant alterations of one’s body? is needing to be 18 or 19 to have a legal drink or toke more serious a matter than a significant alteration of one’s physical form? is 18 or 19 just far too subjective of age/numbers for much of anything anymore?
there may at present be much evidence to suggest that by one’s teens, they fully know whether or not they fit into the societal conditioning of what is male or female; that they are quite unequivocally gay, straight, bi, non, trans, or entirely the sex that they are not in their present form. while all should know they have the right to explore and change their outlook as they evolve through what is best described as experience, at what point are they able to make what seems to be more absolute, and most significant decisions that our legal system has limited with age standards?
is there enough chance that those wishing to embark on certain journeys may come to regret decisions made that might prove catastrophic should they come to wish to return to where they began? are there presently robust numbers that underscore very few to none wish to undo something that has become quite difficult to undo? are hormone treatments and puberty blockers detrimental to the well being of youth that are in the “natural to their biological system” process of physical development? does the need to alter that process become primary relative to any adverse emotional/mental effects related to being in a body that makes a person quite uncomfortable?
do we yet know enough to be able to safely approach this wide open on a grand scale with regard to those not at age of consent/adulthood? indeed, come adulthood, your body is yours, and that must be entirely respected by govt and society. at what “age” will the physical interventions in question prove prudent, or hasty?
Hey, can’t drive a car till 16, can’t vote till 18, can’t go in bar till 18, but I can whack my parts off at my own free will when I am 10. Sick individuals on here.
i do not think there have been many actual genital alterations involving children.
what i did learn yesterday is puberty blockers are deemed to be safe.
https://www.healthline.com/health/are-puberty-blockers-reversible#if-discontinued
however, if one prefers their news via a religious platform, puberty blockers cause irreversible harm. https://wng.org/roundups/study-effects-of-puberty-blockers-can-last-a-lifetime-1617220389
my preference is to lean to the info from the medical site, and take the religious site info with a pillar of salt.