Nova Scotia abandons plan to update gender guidelines for schools

Nova Scotia’s education minister says a long-awaited update to guidelines on supporting transgender and non-binary students is no longer needed because a new code of conduct fills in the gaps.

But a newly formed coalition of advocates disagrees, and is calling on the province to take a stronger position on the topic of gender.

“It’s really important that right now our government takes a stand,” said Em Bailey, a spokesperson for the Gender Justice Coalition. 

“[And that it] steps out of the closet and out of the shadows, and really demands better in our schools when it comes to trans children and youth and the services that they’re receiving.”

In early 2023, the Department of Education convened focus groups with students and consulted with stakeholders to inform changes to a document called the Guidelines for Supporting Transgender and Gender-nonconforming Students. Later that year, department officials had a draft update in hand.

The guidelines were initially released in 2014 with the stated goal of helping teachers and administrators protect gender-diverse students from discrimination. But they haven't been altered since, and critics say that after more than a decade of societal change, the guidelines have holes and lack clarity.

Bailey pointed to gender policies in Alberta and New Brunswick as examples of a shift toward social conservatism, which they describe as “very severe steps towards harming trans children and youth.”

In New Brunswick, the previous Progressive Conservative government introduced a requirement for parental consent for students to use a preferred name or pronouns — something the current Liberal government has reversed. In Alberta, the United Conservative government adopted a similar requirement, which is now facing a constitutional challenge in court.

As recently as last year, officials with the Department of Education said the work to update Nova Scotia’s gender guidelines was ongoing. This week, Education Minister Brendan Maguire acknowledged that the plan has changed.

“We took the gaps that we were told were in the school system and we wove it right into the code of conduct,” he told reporters following a cabinet meeting Thursday.

In response to the rise of violent incidents in schools, Maguire released a new code of conduct in April.

Maguire said the existing gender guidelines, which he described as “comprehensive and progressive,” lay out clear expectations, while the code of conduct lays out consequences if the guidelines are not followed. He said he expects both to be followed “to the letter.”

“This is something I’m really passionate about,” Maguire said. “Our kids have the right, the absolute right to feel safe in our schools, they have the right to an inclusive teaching environment. And not just our students, but our staff and our teachers.”

Bailey said it’s “disrespectful” the province consulted stakeholders on updating the guidelines and hasn’t followed through with the action those stakeholders expected.