Hundreds rally in Saskatoon against new sexual education, pronoun policies in province’s schools

Hundreds of people assembled in Saskatoon Sunday afternoon, protesting new policies around students’ pronouns and sexual education in schools.

Sunday’s rally occurred around the Wildwood area, outside the office of Don Morgan, the minister of Crown Investment Corporation, as well as labour relations and workplace safety. It is the latest in a wave of opposition to the education policies announced earlier this week.

“Stop this. It’s not in the interest of saving children, or making children safe,” said Fran Forsberg, one of the rally organizers. Two of her children are transgender.

“You are putting youth and children in harm’s way.”

On Tuesday, Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced several new policies around sexual education and the use of pronouns in schools throughout the province.

If a student is younger than 16, schools must now seek permission from their parent or guardian to change the child’s pronouns and preferred name. Consent is not required for students aged 16 or older.

Parents and guardians must now be informed about the sex education curriculum, and have the option to pull their child from participating.

School boards must also cease inviting third-party organizations — excluding provincial government and Saskatchewan Health Authority employees — to present about sexual health education in classrooms, until the education ministry finishes reviewing its materials for the curriculum.

In the meantime, only teachers are allowed to conduct sexual education in classrooms.

The announcement stems from an incident that occurred in Lumsden High School in June, just before the end of the school year.

Planned Parenthood Regina, a sexual health clinic that offers community programming, among other things, presented to a Grade 9 health class about contraception, consent, and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections — which aligned with the curriculum.

The presenters left behind additional resources if students wanted to learn more. One student picked up a copy of a card set titled Sex from A-Z, which was unrelated to the presentation and not age-appropriate.

The new policies are an attempt to get parents more involved in their children’s schooling, and create uniformity across school divisions when it comes to dealing with these matters, Duncan previously said.

On Sunday, Premier Scott Moe posted on social media, defending the policies.

He has been touring the province and, at “every stop,” he has received positive responses to the new policy, he said.

Yet, since Tuesday morning, the Opposition NDP, educators, health professionals and sexual health stakeholders have strongly opposed the move, suggesting the policies could harm transgender and non-binary children — as well as students in general