Sask.'s new law creates complications for support staff, gender-diverse students: mental health experts
CBC
Saskatchewan's new law requiring parental permission before students can use a different gender-related name or pronoun at school is out of step with the principles that guide professionals who work with youth, critics say.
After the law passed on Friday, Premier Scott Moe said the bill was about "providing parents the right — not the opportunity — to support their children in the formative years of their life."
Moe and his government have cited widespread support for the new policy, but it has also come under intense scrutiny.
Since it was announced in August, it has been criticized and denounced by mental health experts, the provincial opposition, the children's advocate, the provincial human rights commission, teachers, legal experts, parents and youth.
Opponents have said the law tramples children's rights and could put gender-diverse youth at risk.
"This is an anti-trans bill," said Estefan Cortes-Vargas, a former Albertan politician who now lives in Saskatoon and volunteers with Trans Sask, a local organization that provides support to gender-diverse people in Saskatchewan.
"The reality is, is that pronoun use and being called by your name … that is a preventative measure to suicide when it comes to gender-diverse people."
Saskatchewan's Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said Friday that all staff will be expected to refer to students by their "given name" until they obtain parental consent.
According to the law, students who don't feel comfortable or safe coming out to their parents will be connected with the "appropriate professionals" so they can develop a plan to get the parent's permission.
"I think it's an ethically fraught situation for teachers and principals and counsellors to navigate," Cortes-Vargas said, noting that not all support workers in schools have received training on how to provide gender-affirming care and counselling.
Cortes-Vargas said the government hasn't explained how the professionals will offer a safe space to trans and non-binary students if they are forced to mis-gender or deadname students during the counselling sessions (deadnaming refers to using a trans person's former name).
The rules put support workers in a difficult position as they try to abide by the law while also upholding their ethics and codes of conduct, said Emily Ritenburg, a registered social worker in Regina.
"We consider deadnaming and misusing pronouns as not respecting the inherent dignity of a child, so that is definitely something that people are grappling with," Ritenburg said.
Dr. Sara Dungavell echoed Ritenburg's concerns.