'Hateful and mean': LGBTQ+ advocates slam Sask. Party's proposed change room policy

A Saskatoon LGBTQ+ advocate says if the Saskatchewan Party's proposed change room policy had been in place when he was a kid, he would not have survived high school.

Blake Tait says he’s still healing from being outed by his school’s guidance counsellor when he was 14.

Feeling safe at his school in Saskatoon, he started telling people he was transgender. But he felt uneasy when his guidance counsellor set up a meeting for Tait to tell his family.

His parents were supportive. His mom’s ex-husband, whom they lived with at the time, was not, leading to four years of emotional abuse that manifested in alcoholism, drug misuse and a suicide attempt.

"He kicked me out right after I was discharged from the psych ward," said Tait, 24.

On Thursday, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said banning “biological boys” from sharing change rooms with “biological girls" would be his party's first order of business if it's re-elected on Oct. 28.

Tait is one of many LGBTQ+ advocates who say the campaign promise is hateful and puts transgender youth at risk.

"If this legislation had existed when I was a kid, I would not have survived high school and that’s the fact of the matter," he said. "School was my one safe space, the only place where I felt I could be authentic."