Muslim parents seek a path forward after protests over LGBTQ rights in school

When Iftekhar Ahmed's child came out as transgender four years ago, the situation was difficult for him to comprehend. Raised in Pakistan in a Muslim household, Ahmed had little experience with the concept.

But after about a year of conversations with his son, Mani, and of lot of learning about his identity, Ahmed was able to understand.

"He's my child," said Ahmed, who lives in Montreal. "How you express yourself, how you dress, how you look, those are important. But it's not everything."

So when Ahmed saw the protests last month across Canada over sex ed and LGBTQ rights, he worried for the safety of children like Mani. He says the rhetoric of parental rights doesn't make sense, as it's the children who are vulnerable.

"This is personal for me," he said. "I always think of my child and how he will face these kinds of situations. And I do have friends who have queer children who are vulnerable."

Leading up to the "1 Million March 4 Children" protest in Montreal, Siddiqa Sadiq also had trouble understanding why so many fellow members of her Muslim community were planning to attend.

"What exactly is the issue here?" Sadiq asked. She says she was met with frustration instead of answers.

At the Montreal demonstration, protesters held up signs saying "Parents know best" and "Leave our kids alone." CBC spoke with protesters who said they didn't want gender identity discussed in school.

Sadiq, a mother herself, wondered why her community was focusing on this issue, and why they felt so strongly that many had pulled their kids out of school to attend.

"Schools are supposed to teach us how to communicate better," she said. "We go to schools to learn how to debate, how to converse."

But instead of a conversation, she saw people yelling at each other in the street. She feels the situation was poorly handled by both the protesters and counter protesters.

"Nobody is happy in this situation," said Sadiq.

Mubeenah Mughal attended the Montreal counter protest and agreed there was no place for any productive discussion.

"I just kind of degenerated to being like, 'Well, you're trash," Mughal said.