Protests over LGBTQ school policies descend on government buildings and parking lots in Newfoundland

Hundreds of people marched on government buildings and parking lots in St. John's, Grand Falls-Windsor and Corner Brook on Wednesday — one side protesting LGBTQ programs and policies in schools, the other a counter-protest in support of LGBTQ rights.

In St. John's, just over 100 people, a mixture of adults and children, gathered on the front lawn of the Confederation Building as part of the national "1 Million March 4 Children" protest against schools teaching children about gender and sexual diversity. Roughly double that amount showed up on the front steps of the provincial legislature as a counter-protest.

Neither side mingled until partway through a series of speeches from the counter protest, when one counter-protester screamed at the group gathered on the lawn. Two protesters from the lawn then walked into the middle of the counter-protest group and began shouting back. 

The situation briefly became tense when a young boy began to cry as his mother screamed into the faces of the counter-protesters and put up her middle finger. The boy began to scream at the group as well, and Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers intervened to keep both sides apart. 

Outside that brief interaction, both sides were able to freely deliver their messages.

WATCH |  Protesters and LGBTQ supporters face off in St. John's:

Counter-protester Robert Kenny told CBC News he's "lost family members" to the anti-trans movement.

"It's sad to see that children who are making courageous decisions and stepping out of their comfort zone are not supported in that, or the support seems conditional, or it comes with a heavy price to pay," said Kenny.

"With a lot of the people I see supporting those rights, these are a forward-looking population raising good kids."

Kenny said he could have benefited from gender identity conversations while growing up.

"In contrast to that we had homophobic principals, homophobic teachers and homophobic students who were not course-corrected, and for that reason a lot of us had to leave this province."

The counter-protest crowd included Trent Langdon, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, members of the provincial NDP and Progressive Conservative parties, and several unions and their members.

Former PC leader Ches Crosbie, was also there, mingling mostly with the protesters.

A group in the hundreds also gathered at a Sobeys grocery store parking lot in Grand Falls-Windsor, roughly around the same time as the protests and counter-protests kicked off elsewhere in Newfoundland and the rest of Canada.