June 28, 2011
New Policy for Safer Schools
The Edmonton Public School Board has drafted a new policy regarding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. It was drafted to address the disproportionate amount of bullying, harassment, discrimination, violence and high rate of suicide that students, staff and family members, who identify or are perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, queer or questioning their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, experience at Edmonton Public Schools. The School Board has already voted to implement the policy and recently opened up a discussion for the public to look over its wording and provide feedback.
When I looked at the policy outline, I had no problem with the wording. I feel like the authors are making a commendable effort to protect everyone whose chosen or presumed sexual and/or gender identity and/or expression unjustifiably renders them targets for abuse.
The recent news coverage of this policy has focused on its opposition by representatives from religious programs that operate under the jurisdiction and authority of the Edmonton Public School Board. One group posted an alert on their website to parents, which warns this policy would have a “significant, negative impact on our Logos Christian Alternative Program” (quoted from website). Their main issue is with points in the policy that state all gender and sexual identities shall be affirmed in the school environment. In their school programs they do not want to feel obligated to affirm, in their words, homosexuality. Rather, they want their teachers and principals to have the right to teach that the “homosexual lifestyle is not in accord with their Christian beliefs” (quoted from website).
The Edmonton Public School Board and the Logos Christian program are in an ideological struggle; an ideology affirming that all sexualities and genders are valued is conflicting with an ideology stating homosexuality is wrong. The truth is, this struggle is much bigger than the Edmonton Public School Board policy and will continue long after people forget about this particular issue.
Still, let us focus on the Logos Christian Program representatives’ worry that their teachers would be forced to affirm homosexuality in their classroom.
To be honest, they don’t need to worry. Any opportunity for students and teachers to talk about and explore the values in these sexual and gender identities and expressions is already restricted because of much more powerful legislation. The government of Alberta determines the curriculum teachers are required to teach in their classrooms. Nowhere in that curriculum is a lesson plan ready to be created that focuses on the affirmation of diverse sexual and gender identities and expressions. Plus, the Alberta government’s legislation, Bill 44, dictates that if teachers want to plan lessons on sex, religion or sexual orientation, they must give parents written notice. The parents have the right to withdraw their children from those classes if they wish. Thus, despite the Edmonton Public School Board’s new policy, a teacher has no obligation to talk about “homosexuality,” and if they choose to create a lesson plan about minority sexualities, they are still going to have to respect parents’ decisions to remove their children from these classes. Contrary to their worries, this new policy will not force teachers to affirm homosexuality in their lesson plans and students to hear this message. However, it will require that in their day-to-day engagement with students, parents and teachers they show respect to everyone, even those with non-mainstream sexualities and genders.
Thinking about Bill 44, I have to wonder – Do the teachers in the Logos program have to send out a notice to parents each time they wish to teach their students that homosexuality is a sin? That lesson involves both sexual orientation and religion.
Bottom line – I believe the Edmonton Public School Board’s new policy is making a positive step towards less violence and more well-being for individuals in my community. To me, that’s always a worthy goal.
By Meagan Simon
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June 17, 2010
Pride in the face of violence
The Womonspace float at Edmonton's 2010 Pride Parade included memorial posters for Brandon Teena and Matthew Shepard. Photo courtesy of Paula Kirman (sacredsocialjustice.com).
It’s Pride Week in Edmonton, time to celebrate LGBTTIQQA people and culture. As sexual minority and gender variant people have become more and more accepted and as more legal gains have been made, Pride for many has become more about the party than the politics. However, it’s important for us to remember why Pride is such an important event for our communities and recognize that this celebration is still one part of the ongoing fight for all of us to live free of oppression and violence in a just and equal society.
According to Statistics Canada’s newly-released report, “Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2008”, hate crimes in Canada in 2008 rose by 35% from the previous year. The largest increase was in hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation, which rose by 124%. Although some of that increase may be related to better reporting, homophobic violence in Canada appears to be on the rise, with a 127% increase in hate crimes where the victim was identified as gay or lesbian. The most common targets for these crimes are gay men (although 15% of identified victims were female). Even more disturbing is the fact that 75% of these incidents were violent offenses. Although most of these were minor assaults, about half of all hate-crime homicides were motivated by “biases related to sexual orientation”.
However, incidents designated as hate crimes by police are not the only acts of violence against sexual minorities. According to another Statistics Canada report from 2008, this one on “Sexual Orientation and Victimization”, LGB people were more likely to be targets of violent crime than heterosexuals from similar demographic groups. Even controlling for other factors that affect a person’s likelihood of experiencing a crime, gays and lesbians were nearly twice as likely to be victims as their peers. For bisexuals, this rate was even higher at 4.5 times that of the comparable general population. Without controlling for issues such as age, income, living in an urban area, and other contributing risk factors, the numbers were even higher for gays and lesbians at 2.5 times the average, with bisexuals experiencing 4 times the average rate of violent victimization. Spousal violence risks are also higher for all groups, with rates of 15% for lesbians or gays and 28% for bisexuals (heterosexuals have a rate of 7%). Unfortunately, this report did not include other groups — the lack of information on violence against trans people is a glaring absence and a prime example of the erasure of trans experience from academic discourses — but it does illustrate that sexual orientation is a factor in the experience of violence, even when people are not marginalized in other ways as well.
Stats for hate crimes in Edmonton are a bit more positive. We have a lower than average rate of hate crimes overall in Canada (although we have a higher rate of racially-motivated crimes), and 2008 saw only four police-reported hate crimes related to sexual orientation. The Pride Centre’s Brendan Van Alstine commented to the Edmonton Sun that “Edmonton is a pretty tolerant city,” which may contribute to our lower rate. However, homophobic violence does occur in the city: the best-known incident in the last few months is the hate-motivated assault by a 14-year-old boy on Shannon Barry. Violence like this is a powerful reminder that we still need to fight homophobia and transphobia in Edmonton.
In the face of this violence, why does the carnival atmosphere of Pride matter? Some might suggest we should march the streets in anger, shouting our outrage as loudly as we can. And sometimes we should. However, the celebration of Pride is also a powerful force in standing up against homophobic and transphobic violence. By showing that we are unashamed to openly walk the downtown streets, we show that hate will not make us vanish or send us back to hide in the closet. By celebrating who we are, we show that we are a part of our communities and that we do not need to blend in to be equal citizens. And by taking joy in our many queer communities coming together, we show our city and our world that we are strong, resilient, and thriving. Pride can encompass both the partying and the politics, and at its best and most powerful, that mix is the heart of what Pride is all about.
Womonspace float. Photo courtesy of Paula Kirman (sacredsocialjustice.com)
Queer Muslims and Allies at the 2010 Edmonton Pride Parade. Photo courtesy of Paula Kirman (sacredsocialjustice.com)
Trans Equality Society of Alberta, Edmonton Pride Parade 2010. Photo courtesy of Paula Kirman (sacredsocialjustice.com).
Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton 