To follow up our synopsis of LGBT progress in the fields of politics, religion, and health last week, we bring you a look at the significant work that has been done in the realms of education and law.
Last week, we took a look at how advances have been and are being made for LGBT people in three fields—politics, health, and religion. This week, we’re turning our attention to education and law as we gear up for the Vancouver Pride parade on Sunday (August 6). For more Pride coverage, visit Straight.com.
EDUCATION
Knowledge and facts are what 2
dispel discrimination and prejudice. But it’s within the field of educating people that some of the fiercest and most contentious local debates about LGBT issues have taken place.
Numerous controversies have arisen over attempts by school boards to implement policies addressing sexual orientation and gender identities.
Several debates about LGBT issues have taken place in Surrey. Among them, in 1997, the Surrey school board voted to ban books portraying same-sex couples. (In 2002, though, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against the board.) However, things have changed: in 2013, the Surrey school board adopted a strict antihomophobia policy.
Over on the North Shore, Azmi Jubran won a landmark B.C. Human Rights Tribunal case against the North Vancouver School District in early 2003. He had complained that the district did nothing about five years of homophobic bullying he experienced at Handsworth secondary (even though he is not gay). The school board appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court, which overturned the tribunal’s decision. Jubran then went to the B.C. Court of Appeal, which upheld the original decision. Finally, in 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected another appeal by the school district.
Before the Burnaby school board unanimously approved an antihomophobia policy in 2011, opposition arose. An ad-hoc group called Parents Voice circulated a petition that gathered 5,000 signatures against the policy. Tensions escalated to the point that a trustee received a death threat. The policy, however, passed.
Similarly, when the Vancouver school board sought to update its 2004 sexual-identity and gender-identities policy in 2014, an uproar ensued. At a series of heated and packed public hearings, some parents and members of Christian groups expressed their concerns. A focal point of contention was about students’ right to confidentiality about their gender identity or expression.
Although Richmond has been fairly quiet on the LGBT front in education, a gay-straight alliance launched a petition to ask for an Lgbt–specific policy to address homophobia and transphobia. Richmond was one of the last school districts in the Lower Mainland without one. Even though the student group received hate mail and parents expressed concerns, the Richmond school board voted unanimously in November to look into developing a policy.
In spite of all this, one program that has been addressing LGBT issues— including homophobia, transphobia, bullying, and discrimination—in schools is Out in Schools. Run by Out on Screen, the organization that presents the annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Out in Schools has been taking presentations to schools across B.C. since 2004.
Although many of these battles have been hard-won, they will, hopefully, pave the way for well-informed generations in the future. > CRAIG TAKEUCHI
LEGAL AFFAIRS
Let’s be honest. While politicians 2 are fond of marching in Pride parades, it’s often the courts that have delivered the greatest breakthroughs, thanks in part to Vancouver lawyer Joe Arvay.
He represented James Egan and John Norris Nesbit’s landmark claim in the Supreme Court of Canada for same-sex spousal benefits. The court concluded in 1995 that sexual orientation is a ground for a discrimination claim under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This set an important precedent for many future cases regarding equality for the LGBT community.
In addition, Arvay represented Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium when the Vancouver store won an obscenity case in Canada’s highest court in 2000 against the federal government. Two years later, Arvay acted for teacher James Chamberlain in the Supreme Court of Canada when it struck down a Surrey school board ban on the use of books featuring same-sex parents in a kindergarten and Grade 1 class. Then in 2003, Arvay convinced the B.C. Court of Appeal to overturn an earlier B.C. Supreme Court decision upholding the federal ban on samesex marriage.
Another Vancouver legal trailblazer for the LGBT community has been barbara findlay. Not only has she argued important same-sex marriage cases, but she also helped establish two lesbians mothers’ legal right to have both their names on the birth certificate of their child. In addition, findlay played a leadership role in a battle against allowing Trinity Western University law-school graduates to be licensed by the B.C. Law Society.
Arvay and findlay both represented transsexual Kimberly Nixon in her long-standing legal battle with Vancouver Rape Relief, but Nixon’s claim was dismissed in the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Lower Mainland politicians have also done their part. As justice minister, Vancouver’s Kim Campbell lifted the ban on gays and lesbians in the Canadian Armed Forces. Former Burnaby-douglas NDP MP Svend Robinson introduced a private member’s bill in 2003 to legalize same-sex marriage. And Robinson’s successor, Bill Siksay, introduced a bill in Parliament in 2005 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. Although Siksay didn’t initially succeed in having this become law, a similar bill was later introduced by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-raybould, the MP for Vancouver-granville, and passed in Parliament last year. > CHARLIE SMITH