Candidate makes SOGI 123 an election issue

Disclosure: I do attend a Christian church and I do believe in Christian religious beliefs. However, I do believe in tolerance, understanding, and being non judgmental of human choices.

The Central Okanagan area’s LGBQT2 community was recently dealt a blow by local school trustee Lee-Ann Tiede who suggested, on a Facebook site, that board acceptance of SOGI 123 policy should be revisited. Interestingly enough, Tiede did not raise any concerns about this when the board unanimously agreed to continue supporting the program. She agreed with the board. All seven trustees considered this a human rights question of tolerance and anti-bullying.

To suddenly change your mind just before the trustee elections and begin asking questions certainly smacks of convenience. Let’s go back a little. The LGBQT2 community has not lobbied for the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity program. It was initiated and approved by the previous provincial government as mandated by the B.C. Human Rights Commission.

The stated goal of the program is, “to help make schools inclusive and safe for students of all sexual orientation.” (B.C. Government SOGI 123 website.)

It simply supplies resources and understanding for teachers to help all students feel included. There is some emphasis on LGBQT2 students who are often marginalized and bullied but there is no attempt to indoctrinate students in “alternative lifestyles."

It is rather sad that some in the Christian community have pounced on this program as promoting what they call “gender fluidity.” SOGI 123 does not make any reference to gender fluidity.

The people who have created the drama around this at many province-wide school board meetings have tried to read between the lines to find something that is simply not there.

At times, this has been taken to the extremes showing a lack of tolerance and understanding. Most school boards have moved on and have begun the process of first educating teachers and thus helping students who are in danger of bullying. Each school still has a totally separate Family Life program. SOGI 123 is not part of it. Girls will still be girls and boys will still be boys. Sounds fair to me.

It would be wise for all local school boards to have local parent sessions to explain this program, in detail, as there are many misunderstandings.

Not so in Chilliwack where trustee Barry Neufeld must face a human rights tribunal over statements he made around this issue.

He was asked by his own board to apologize, which he did, but then went on to stretch the matter further in public meetings and in meetings designed to elect trustees to his point of view. He accused the LGBQT2 community of “child abuse,” and “launching a cultural revolution, and that some forms of alternative lifestyles were a “mental illness”.

Probably a little extreme for all of us. Both the CUPE and BCTF unions have filed complaints against him.

Neufeld’s board has asked him to resign, but he is definitely running in this school board election and continuing to stir up controversy at meetings, trying to elect similar trustees.

Let us hope that the SOGI 123 program of tolerance does not stir up quite the controversy in the Central Okanagan area, but do expect the matter to come up at trustee all candidate meetings.

Grandstanding may get you votes, but it is not always the right thing to do.

And it is certainly not what most people would accept as the Christian thing to do.

So please attend the school trustee election meetings. Listen carefully and ask questions. But, do make sure you have the correct information and decide fairly before you vote.

(Find SOGI 123 information in an easy Google search on the B.C. government website.)

Reg Volk writes on politics and local issues. To contact the writer: