Mission schools ban homophobic group from meetings
The Mission school board is taking a stand against misinformation and hate, passing a motion banning an anti-trans and homophobic group from speaking at meetings.
Board Chair Shelley Carter says this move comes after the head of the group Action4Canada hijacked a January meeting with hateful propaganda.
interesting! Mission school board potentially banning Action4Canada and others from presenting misinformation at mtgs, citing prior bad faith actions, and the protection & human rights of staff, students, public. Nice! @tracyloffler pic.twitter.com/LAG3XvJWi1
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— TransParent OK (@TransParentBC) February 22, 2023
“It was very hurtful and concerning to a lot of our parents and staff and our students for sure,” she told CityNews. “It doesn’t align with our school district. We do everything through equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
The school board’s decision is welcome news to those who are often the target of hate.
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Trans activist and SFU Sociology professor Travers hopes more school districts take the same approach.
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“Allowing activist groups to just simply go in and disrupt and take up time in their advocacy of … not recognizing the human rights of some students and staff, that’s absurd. So, I think it’s a really constructive approach — it’s fair,” they explained.
“When you go in with an agenda to deny the existence of trans kids, to deny supports to queer kids, etcetera, what you’re doing is really destructive, it violates human rights, and it also occupies a huge amount of space on school board agendas.”
Travers says they’re happy to see groups like the aforementioned stopped before they can begin.
“It is not the business of the school board to consider denying the humanity and human rights of any students and staff, that’s just not going to happen. That seems like a really reasonable limit,” Travers added.
The motion that bans Action4Canada from presenting at meetings was passed on Tuesday.
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It will be reviewed in a year.
“They’re hijacking time with their misinformation and their hateful propaganda and taking time away from us,” Carter said. “We always say, most trustees say we’re here for the students.”
TransParent Okanagan, an organization created by and aimed at supporting parents and caregivers of trans, gender-diverse, and two-spirited people in the Interior, is also welcoming the district’s decision, saying these are steps that “protect staff, students, and the public from anti-2SLGBTQ propaganda and hate.”
“Our TransParent families have reported increasing levels of bullying over the last few years,” a statement from the group reads.
“This bullying is particularly harmful right now as 2SLGBTQ kids are acutely aware of the discriminatory discourse coming out of the USA, especially targeting transgender kids’ human rights, access to education and healthcare.”
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The organization says groups like Action4Canada amplify this kind of rhetoric in this country, adding, “targeting the most vulnerable in our community – especially children – is not only irresponsible, it is egregious and morally reprehensible.”
Editor’s note: this article has been updated to reflect only Action4Canada has been banned from the meetings.
