New Brunswick introduced changes Thursday to Policy 713, which protects LGBTQ+ students in schools.
The biggest change involves students under 16 years of age who want to officially use a different name or pronouns in school.
Students have always required parental consent for their preferred first name and pronouns to be officially used.
But the previous policy allowed for a path forward if the school was unable to get parental consent.
“If it is not possible to obtain parental consent for the use of the preferred first name, a plan will be put in place to support the student in managing the use of the preferred name in the learning environment,” said the policy.
But this will no longer be the case when changes made to the policy come into effect on July 1. School officials will only be able to use a different name or pronoun if a student’s parents are OK with it.
Education Minister Bill Hogan insisted that school staff will not be outing LGBTQ+ students to their parents.
Hogan said school professionals, such as social workers or psychologists, will work with students to help them speak with their parents — if and when they are ready to do so.
“Under the policy as it currently stands, if an elementary student changes their gender identity and name, the school is required to make a plan to support the change at school, but it is, in essence, hidden from their parents unless the child gives permission to share that with them,” said Hogan.
“We believe that it’s fundamentally wrong to not share this information with parents if we are using it on a daily basis. It puts teachers in a really challenging position.”
For students aged 16 and over, school staff with consult with the student and use their preferred first name and pronouns “in ways that the student has requested.”
Another change to the policy relates to wording surrounding participation in school activities, including sports.
The previous policy all students will be able to participate in activities “that are safe, welcoming, and consistent with their gender identity.” The new policy removes any mention of gender identity.
Hogan said that was not what he intended and told reporters the policy may need some clarification.
“We will work closely with the appropriate sports associations that are doing a wonderful job in ensuring that students can participate in the sport that they identify with and we don’t intend to interfere with that,” he said.
The government also reviewed a section of the policy that allows access to washroom facilities on the basis of gender identity.
No changes were made to the existing sections, but the minister added a section which says: “Private universal changing areas will be available in all schools.”
Hogan said students they spoke with said access to private universal washrooms and changing rooms was problematic and reiterated they are important to have in every school.
Several PC MLAs absent from legislature
A number of Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers and caucus members were notably absent from the legislature on Thursday morning after the review was released.
They included Daniel Allain, Andrea Anderson-Mason, Jeff Carr, Arlene Dunn, Jill Green, Trevor Holder, Dorothy Shephard, and Ross Wetmore.
“Today, we as members of caucus refrained from participating in routine business and question period as a way to express our extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency,” the MLAs said in a joint statement.
The MLAs said they would have no further comment on the matter at this time.
Reaction from Liberal, Green MLAs
The results of the policy review led to several heated exchanges during question period in the legislature on Thursday.
Green MLA Megan Mitton said the premier and education minister are being “reckless” with the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.
“The premier and minister of education never should have meddled with Policy 713. Even though they will say they didn’t really change anything, they did,” said Mitton.
“The minister says he’s okay with putting teachers in the challenging position of having to deadname students who have not come out to their parents.”
Liberal opposition leader Susan Holt said she does not believe the government intends to harm students.
However, Holt said she feels the updated policy will not protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Here we have a government that appears to have chosen the rights of the parent over the rights of the child,” said Holt.
The Liberal leader said the review process was “incoherent” with no transparency and a lack of planning.
“We didn’t know the timeline. We didn’t know the end result. We haven’t been communicated which groups would be consulted. It’s a mishmash,” she said.
“New Brunswickers are lacking trust in a government that can’t affect a proper policy review.”
Child and youth advocate reviewing changes
The province’s child and youth advocate said he is reviewing the amendments to Policy 713.
Kelly Lamrock said his office will not be providing any comment on the changes at this time.
His office, however, will submit a legislative analysis to MLAs “as per normal practice on legal changes affecting children.”
Lamrock was outspoken over the review and had called on the government to press pause until clear goals were in place.
The education minister said they decided to review the policy after receiving “hundreds” of complaints surrounding it.
But when Lamrock asked to see the complaints that led to the review, the Department of Education sent him only three emails.
“Those three, frankly, seem to be criticizing a policy that might exist in the fever swamps of the internet but have nothing to do with Policy 713,” he said in an interview in May.
Lamrock said he cannot think of any other case where three emails in 30 months have been the threshold for the review of government policy.
“I am not sure any government decision could survive if receiving three complaints led to reconsideration,” the advocate said in his findings to the government.
He also noted that there were no benchmarks in place to measure the success or failure of the policy.
“The Department is attributing the change to the public response, and that public response is not at a level that has been applied to other government policies affecting the general population,” Lamrock wrote.
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