Solutions to the GSA-SOGI debacle
LETTERS
A few months prior to the vote on GSA law (Bill 10), Premier Prentice’s goals were fairness, balance and building consensus: “... because rights need to be advanced, children need to be protected, parents need to be reassured and school boards need to be respected.” To date, not one of these goals has been achieved.
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, the original sponsor of the bill, was jubilant upon its unanimous approval: “I’m really glad that the government was brave enough to take that step, and I will give you credit for being brave. That one wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t a gimme. I didn’t think you’d be able to go there.” Two months later the NDP came to power and SOGI Inclusive Education Policy, and Bill 24 — [more] Support for GSAs, have been added to the legislative/policy debacle.
Alberta’s social conservatives will remain “tossed under the bus” unless the UCP campaigns on this short list of imperative legal/policy remedies:
• Uphold traditional parental rights and family values by setting the minimum age requirement to 16 (high school — Grade 10) for independent sexual orientation and/or gender self-identity while at school, and for GSA membership, apart from parental knowledge and approval.
• Protect the health/sexual development of all Alberta children: (1) by preventing GSA club formation at elementary and junior high schools (Grades K-9) or insisting on parental approval for GSA membership (K-9); and (2) by precluding “ideology-based” [nonscientific], “biased/affirmative action” curriculum development.
• Prevent erosion of freedoms of speech and religion in schools by legally defining what homophobia is/is not following the Criminal Code 319 hate speech model, e.g. — Statements do not constitute homophobia: (1) which are true; (2) which are made in good faith, respectfully expressed to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject or on a belief in a religious text; and (3) which are relevant to any subject of public interest, for public benefit, which are believed to be true.
• Set in place clear boundaries upon which to regulate ideological/political activism in our schools, including critical revision of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) publication GSAs and QSAs in Alberta Schools: A Guide for Teachers, especially ending Type 3 and 4 GSAs.
• Establish needed institutional (principal, school board, ministry) oversight and accountability requirements for GSAs and GSA networks (Calgary-Edmonton-Alberta), including approved and publically accessible club constitutions and network charters.
Carman Bradley
Calgary