Calgary Herald

UCP rejects bill for LGBTQ kids

Kenney resists total ban on telling parents of gay-straight alliances

- EMMA GRANEY

Premier Rachel Notley says by opposing Bill 24, Jason Kenney is failing to stand up for some of the most vulnerable youth in Alberta.

Bill 24, an Act to Support GayStraigh­t Alliances, would make it illegal for teachers to inform parents if their child had joined a GSA, unless the child consented.

Kenney, leader of the United Conservati­ve Party, said Tuesday the act gives the education minister unnecessar­y powers and is a “desperate attempt” by the government to deflect attention from its failed fiscal policies.

He also accused the NDP of introducin­g Bill 24 as “a political instrument to attack their partisan opponents as part of their desperate effort to talk about anything but their failed economic record.”

Notley dismissed that suggestion Tuesday.

“Jason Kenney had a chance to show Albertans that he had changed and would not be trying to drag the province backwards, but he’s not taking that opportunit­y,” she said.

“What it also means is he’s not prepared to stand up on behalf of the most vulnerable kids in our school system.”

Kenney said the UCP caucus — which has been under his direction for a little more than a week — reached a consensus to oppose Bill 24.

At a news conference Tuesday, he said the unique circumstan­ces of each child should be the key factor in determinin­g when parents are told their child is in a GSA, “not the blunt instrument of law.”

“We believe that highly trained educators are in a much better position than politician­s to exercise their discretion on whether it is in the best interests of children to engage parents,” he said.

Notley fired back that the bill ensures better protection­s for kids who need it.

“It ensures overall that we have inclusive schools that respect the basic human rights of kids who are part of any minority,” she said. “This is basic stuff.” Education Minister David Eggen said last week the government felt the new legislatio­n is necessary to protect students against being “outed” to their parents.

He blamed Kenney for making Bill 24 necessary, pointing to how Kenney told Postmedia in March that “parents have a right to know what’s going on with their kids in the schools unless the parents are abusive.”

The GSA issue was brought up time and again during the push for conservati­ve unity and the recent UCP leadership race.

UCP leader Jason Kenney says his MLAs will vote against Bill 24, but apparently will not attempt to amend it.

That means the controvers­ial bill will pass just as the NDP wrote it, which the UCP doesn’t agree with, but won’t try to change.

This is a strange kind of opposition, if the UCP persists in it. The first duty of an official Opposition is to fight for the best possible laws.

Bill 24 protects the privacy of LGBTQ students (and straight ones, for that matter) who join gay-straight alliances.

It prohibits notificati­on of parents except under some specific circumstan­ces. But the kids are free to tell their parents or anyone else, if they want to.

In a mini-speech to reporters Tuesday, Kenney said he continues to support Bill 10, which originally enabled gay-straight alliances. He rejects claims that he or his MLAs are anti-gay.

He does not want to see kids “outed” to their parents, but would give teachers and other educators more autonomy to act on the child’s behalf.

On social media, teachers involved with GSAs immediatel­y hammered Kenney and the UCP for what they consider false statements about notificati­on and other issues.

The NDP insists it’s just trying to protect gay and straight kids in school. There was some evidence of “inconsiste­ncies” with the compliance to Bill 10, says Education Minister David Eggen. That’s a polite way of saying “obstructio­n.”

So the NDP will give authority for establishi­ng GSAs to principals, who work under education department rules, rather than to school boards and superinten­dents.

All this sounds like the ideologica­l battle of the ages. Both the NDP and UCP use it to paint each other into extreme corners.

But here’s a funny thing. There is no wide divergence of principle that would prevent useful compromise on this bill. The UCP might come up with an idea or two the NDP would accept.

So you have to wonder — if Bill 24 is really so bad for kids and parents, how can the UCP let it go through without even trying to improve it?

Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda, one of three LGBTQ members of the NDP caucus, told the legislatur­e Tuesday that “having a GSA when I was growing up would have made life so much easier ... the closet is a very lonely place to be.”

In Miranda’s school days, there were no GSAs and precious few supports of any kind for gay kids. The schoolyard was a frightenin­g zone to navigate every day.

Calgary-Hawkwood New Democrat Michael Connolly, who is often fiercely outspoken, described how he came out when he was in Grade 11 because he was “tired of living a lie at school ...

“I was very afraid. I was afraid that I was going to lose all of my friends, because many of my friends were religious ... I was also very afraid that they would look at me differentl­y, that people would spread nasty rumours about me, my sexual orientatio­n, and my nonexisten­t love life.”

Connolly talked about how gay kids without support can turn to dark places, including scummy dating sites. Connolly said he didn’t do that. Instead, he “turned to depression and thoughts of suicide ...

“I felt so alone in the world that I felt that I’d be better off dead than to continue high school as a gay kid.

“Frankly, this is why GSAs are important. It provides a safe place for kids to go to talk about who they are and what they’re feeling. It stops our youth from jumping into the arms of people who prey on LGBTQ-plus students.”

Early in 2015, there was a wonderful moment when all parties in the legislatur­e simply threw down their arms and agreed on GSAs.

The Progressiv­e Conservati­ves had to admit that Liberal Laurie Blakeman had been right all along. GSAs should simply come into being. The kids had a right to them, period.

The leap from nothing to Bill 10 was much more daunting than today’s little hop from Bill 10 to Bill 24. It’s our politics that have become much more difficult, divided and damaging.

Having a GSA when I was growing up would have made life so much easier ... the closet is a very lonely place to be

 ?? JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Jason Kenney said the UCP will not support a law that leaves it to students to decide whether to tell their parents if they join a gay-straight alliance.
JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS Jason Kenney said the UCP will not support a law that leaves it to students to decide whether to tell their parents if they join a gay-straight alliance.
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