B.C. mulls protest-exclusion zones outside schools
Posted October 4, 2023 3:43 pm.
Last Updated October 4, 2023 3:44 pm.
The B.C. government is considering implementing protest-exclusion zones around schools in the province.
The move comes in response to recent rallies targeting educational sexual orientation and gender identity resources, with some taking place outside schools and school board offices.
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Education Minister Rachna Singh told reporters Tuesday that the government is “exploring options” around possible legislation.
“Schools are no place for protests. I feel for those parents. We really want to make sure that our schools are safe and inclusive,” she said.
“The safety of our kids, our school staff, everybody, is paramount for us. We will look at every option to make sure schools are safe and inclusive.”
Travers is a sociology professor at Simon Fraser University who has also been a longtime advocate for queer and trans youth. They say the kind of hostility seen in the protests is unacceptable anywhere, let alone near schools.
“I think it makes sense to have an exclusion zone,” they told CityNews. “Can you imagine what it would be like to be a queer or trans youth and to pass hostile people? It makes me think back to the efforts to integrate schools in the United States.”
Travers, a sociology professor at Simon Fraser University. (Source: SFU)
Travers says the priority should be protecting children in school settings.
“If we are to subject queer or trans young people, or just regular kids to this kind of hostility, it just sends a horrific message that only straight and gender-conforming kids and adults are welcome in public settings,” they said.
However, Travers says policing or added security may not be the move to ensure that safety.
“I’m always reluctant to ask for security or policing because the presence of security or policing — as research evidence demonstrates — creates climates of exclusion for racialized or Indigenous students,” they said.
There is precedent for protest exclusion zones in B.C. In 2021, legislation was passed to protect areas outside hospitals and medical facilities following a protest that blocked access to Vancouver General Hospital.
