Request to place gay-straight alliance law on hold denied

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms signals intention to appeal

A judge has denied a request to put Alberta’s gay-straight alliance law on hold because she says the benefits to LGBTQ youth outweigh any potential harm.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms — on behalf of more than two dozen faith-based schools, parents and public interest groups — had requested an injunction until a ruling is made on the law’s constitutionality.

The law bans schools from telling parents if their children join the peer groups meant to make LGBTQ kids feel welcome and to prevent bullying.

“The effect on LGBTQ+ students in granting an injunction, which would result in both the loss of supportive GSAs in their schools and send the message that their diverse identities are less worthy of protection, would be considerably more harmful than temporarily limiting a parent’s right to know and make decisions about their child’s involvement in a GSA,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Johnna Kubik said in her decision Wednesday.

The Justice Centre, which argued that keeping parents out of the loop violates their charter rights, had characterized the alliances as “ideological sexual clubs” that could expose young or otherwise vulnerable kids to explicit material. It also raised concerns that schools’ funding and accreditation could be jeopardized if they don’t comply.

The province and others have argued the law is meant to protect LGBTQ youth, who may be put in harm’s way if they are outed to parents who aren’t accepting.

Both sides made their case in Medicine Hat court last week.

In her decision, Kubik said the applicants had to establish that there was a serious constitutional issue to be tried, that complying with the law would cause irreparable harm and that refusing their request would cause them more harm than granting it would cause to the other side.

Kubik said she was satisfied the competing charter rights of parents and children is a serious constitutional issue.

But she dismissed many of the Justice Centre’s arguments around irreparable harm, including that young and vulnerable children may be exposed to graphic material through the alliances.

“There is no evidence that any of these materials were ever promoted by the respondent or GSAs generally, or that the materials ever came into the hands of any students through a GSA,” Kubik wrote.

She also said she could not verify accounts cited by the Justice Centre

The existence of this court case served to undermine a lot of the good work that we’ve done over the past two years to create safe and caring environments for kids in schools.

of children becoming suicidal after being encouraged to dress and behave like the opposite sex at school.

Justice Centre president John Carpay said the group plans to appeal.

“The judgment does a very shallow and cursory review of the evidence that was before the court that children have been harmed,” he said.

Education Minister David Eggen said the ruling was a win for equality. He said the province won’t back down on enforcing the law.

The legal wrangling has been confusing for kids who take part in the alliances, he added.

“The existence of this court case served to undermine a lot of the good work that we’ve done over the past two years to create safe and caring environments for kids in schools,” Eggen said. “An appeal would just keep stretching that out.”

Pam Krause, president of the Centre for Sexuality, said she was pleased with how Kubik highlighted the importance of the alliances.

She said the group, formerly known as the Calgary Sexual Health Centre and which presented evidence in court, intends to have a say in any constitutional challenge.

“We’re going to get the opportunity to really continue to talk about and provide evidence to the point that gay-straight alliances are very important, that they help schools to be more safe and caring and that they help students be more healthy and resilient.”