Legal action filed against Sask. government over new school pronoun rules

A community organization representing LGBTQ people in Regina has filed legal action against the Saskatchewan government over a pronoun policy affecting children at school.

The UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity filed an originating application Thursday in the Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench requesting a judge strike down the changes.

"This policy is, on its face, unconstitutional," said Bennett Jensen, the director of legal for Egale Canada, a national LGBTQ advocacy organization. Egale is co-legal counsel in the application.

"There's also the more human response, which is that it puts gender diverse students in a position of real risk. We know that they will experience harm if this policy is allowed to go into effect."

The province announced earlier this month it is requiring parental consent when children under 16 want to use different names or pronouns at school.

In its application, UR Pride said the rules are not justifiable under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and deny gender-diverse students basic entitlement in a free and democratic society, which includes "a safe and welcoming educational environment in which to be themselves."

The organization said the policy outs children who aren't ready to express their identity to their parents or others, putting them in a potentially harmful situation if they're not accepted.

It said it also results in misgendering, as teachers are required to use students' birth names, not their chosen names, if they don't receive parental consent.

The organization said outing and misgendering violate Section 7 of the Charter, which gives "life, liberty, and security of the person," and Section 15, which provides equality rights to every individual, without discrimination.

"The policy presents an impossible choice: be outed at home or be misgendered at school, even in one-on-one counselling sessions with school personnel," the application stated. "Either outcome entails devastating and irreparable harm to a vulnerable young person."

The Saskatchewan government and all of the province's 27 school divisions are named as respondents in the application. It states the respondents have a right to state their response in court on Sept. 14.

In an emailed statement Thursday, the Saskatchewan Party government said it remains committed to the policy.

"The government maintains its position that parents and guardians have a key role in protecting and supporting their children as they grow and develop, and will do everything in its power to protect parental rights," a spokesperson said.

Jensen, of Egale, is concerned about governments using gender diverse youth as political pawns, which is playing out in New Brunswick, as well as in places in the United States.