The issue of whether or not students should be allowed to form gay-straight alliances (GSA's) in Alberta schools has opened up a heated countrywide debate.
Gay-straight alliances are peer-support groups designed to help LGBTQ kids feel welcome at school and deter from them being bullied and outcast.
The controversy around these groups started in early December when Alberta Premier Jim Prentice sparked a ton of backlash with the introduction of Bill 10 at the provincial legislature.
The Bill was put forth as Prentice and the Alberta government attempted to find a balance between the rights of gay students and the rights of parents in the province.
“Bill 10 is intended to strike a balance on important issues involving: the right of LGBQT youth; the rights of parents involved in the education of their children; the autonomy of school boards and the constitutional rights of separate school boards,” said Prentice, on Dec. 4 after officially putting the Bill on pause due to the unrest among Conservative party members.
Striking a balance in this rights conflict will be difficult for the government because parental rights in the province are unique.
In Alberta parental rights require schools to inform parents when educational programs, or class exercises deal primarily and explicitly with religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation. Parents then have the ability to remove their child from those classes or have them remain in the classroom but withdraw from participation.
The Human Rights Act was amended in 2009 to include sexual orientation; a section, which Prentice says some have argued, is “one of the most discriminatory pieces of legislation in Canada.”
In an attempt to balance the rights of both gay students and parents, Prentice and the Conservatives put forth Bill 10, which amends sections of the Education Act and adds “gay-straight alliance” into the list of terms considered as an “organization” or “activity” students can request.
Although the peer-support group would be acknowledged, students would still not have the automatic right to form these groups, as school boards would be armed with the right to deny their requests.
The Bill, however, does gives students the right to appeal unfavorable decisions to the school board and to the Court of Queen's Bench.
“None of this is easy. Rights are difficult and the conflict between competing rights is difficult for all of us,” said Prentice.
“One cannot have rights without respecting the rights of others. The rights of no citizen are absolute over the rights of another.”
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has been very outspoken regarding his disgust towards Bill 10, even going as far as saying that the Bill does nothing but reinforce negative stereotypes.
The majority of his criticism surrounded the appeal process a student would have to go through should their club be denied.
“If we say that we live in a city where we were thinking it would be okay for a 15-year-old to appear before a judge to ask the judge if the 15-year-old can start a club at his school, that no one would be forced to belong to, well folks, that would be the Scopes Monkey Trial of Alberta,” said Nenshi.
“We would end up having international attention towards what kinds of hillbillies we are. None of us need that.”
Although the issue of gay-straight alliances in Alberta schools has stirred up quite a controversy over the last few weeks, its local impact is minimal as no schools in Bonnyville currently have such a society.
Currently the three high schools in Bonnyville – Bonnyville Centralized High, Notre Dame High and Ecolé Des Beaux Lacs (kindergarten to Grade 12) – don't have any type of peer support groups for gay youth.
BCHS Principal Corey Baker says that the school used to have a GSA, but the club is no longer functioning.
“It was really a great club to be in. There were kids in there that weren't gay and used it as a nice place to hang out. It was supported by a teacher. The kids would meet once a week and have a good time. It wasn't frowned upon at all,” said Baker.
When asked what the response might be if a similar club was to return to the school, Baker felt it would be fully supported.
“There wouldn't be any ill will or anything like that,” said Baker.
“We have students who are certainly homosexual and we try to provide safe places for them.”
Baker and the students at BCHS have the backing of the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) board, as trustees unanimously passed a motion to support GSA's at a meeting earlier this year.
NLSD Board Chair Arlene Hrynyk feels that these types of clubs are “absolutely” something the board should be encouraging at public schools across the Lakeland.
“As a public school system, I think it's important that we support and welcome the diversity of all students and staff, and it's imperative that as a system we make a statement to reinforce that message to our communities,” Hrynyk said.
NLSD has implemented a policy that doesn't force schools to set up a club in support of gay students, but instead gives them the opportunity to create a club should the demand for one arise.
Local Catholic schools, like many others in the province, were careful to tiptoe around the topic of gay-straight alliances when approached about the subject.
Lise Gratton, Principal at Ecolé Des Beaux Lacs, confirmed that the local school has never had a GSA club. Even though that is true, she doesn't deny the fact that a similar type of club may eventually be created at their school.
“Of course you know it is going to happen at some point, but we haven't had to deal with it yet,” said Gratton, who feels the students would be accepted and respected regardless.
With Ecolé Des Beaux Lacs being a Catholic school, Gratton says a GSA would be an issue they would have to “carefully walk thorough.”
The other Catholic School in town, Notre Dame High School, has also never had a peer support group for gay students at their school.
Principal Pamela Guilbault says the school has a Family Outreach Worker on staff whose goal is to work and provide support for all students at the school. She also said that if the proper support was not directly available at the school, they would do their best to direct the student to the proper avenues off campus.
The topic of LGBTQ students rights was brought up in the Alberta Legislature by Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman when she introduced Bill 202 on Nov. 20.
Bill 202 attempted to eliminate the requirement of school boards to provide notice to the parents of a student when instructions, or class exercises dealt primarily or explicitly with religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation.
The Bill said that schools must accommodate students who want to establish and lead organizations that “promote the awareness and understanding of a positive school environment that is inclusive, welcoming and respectful for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity…”
The already heated debate around the topic of GSA's took a turn when Bill 10 was thrown into the mix.
The new Bill was created because Prentice felt that Bill 202 was “divisive” because it “asks us to cast aside our constituents beliefs in parental rights, and the autonomy of school boards, in order to support GSA's,” said Prentice.
Blakeman has stated that she will not give up her quest to get Bill 202 passed, which was halted after successfully passing a second reading.
“I am not willing to let go of this one until we have looked after getting peer support groups for at-risk kids that are a sexual minority or are questioning their gender and make sure they are looked after in their own school.” As for now, both Bill 10 and Bill 202 have been put on pause by Prentice who plans to open up the topic for public consultations.
“There will be a pause in the legislative process while there is consultation with Albertans. I intend to be involved in that personally. These issues matter to me,” said Prentice. “I want to make sure we get this right, so there will be discussions. I'm talking substantive discussions that will take place in the days ahead.”
No details have been released on what the public consultation process will detail.
