Cross-country rallies against 'gender ideology' in schools meet with counter-protests

Thousands of people gathered in cities across Canada on Wednesday for competing protests, screaming and chanting at each other about school policies on gender identity.

Thousands of people gathered in cities across Canada on Wednesday for competing protests, yelling and chanting at each other about the way schools instruct sexuality and gender identity and how teachers refer to transgender youth.

Protesters accused schools of exposing young students to "gender ideology," and said parents have the right to know whether their children are questioning their gender identity. Counter-demonstrators, meanwhile, accused protesters of importing United States culture wars into the country and trying to deny students important lessons about inclusion and respect for gender-diverse people.

"Trans people -- they exist in society, and they deserve inclusion, just like everyone else," said activist Celeste Trianon, who helped lead a counter-protest in downtown Montreal, where police inserted themselves between the two factions outside the offices of Premier Francois Legault.

"We need to talk to people, teach them the right vocabulary, the proper words, at an age-appropriate time, in order to explain that inclusion is a good thing. We need to make sure that their trans and queer peers at school feel welcome."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted about the Canada-wide protests, saying "Transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia have no place in this country. We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations, and we stand united in support of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians across the country -- you are valid and you are valued."

Organizers of the marches said they were protesting the "premature sexualization and potentially harmful indoctrination" of children, but that they aren't against LGBTQ2S+ people. The crowd that gathered in Ottawa suggested otherwise, with some signs held by protesters directly targeting members in that community as being groomers and pedophiles.

Others shouted that being LGBTQ2S+ is a sin, that children shouldn't be learning about those identities in schools, and that the "evilness" of the LGBTQ2S+ community will soon be eradicated.