An organization that is trying to remove gender-identity education from curriculums in schools has organized a Canada-wide march upon Parliament and every provincial and territorial Legislature.
The march is scheduled to take place today, Wednesday, September 20th.
The Concerned Canadians Standing Together Against Gender Ideology in Schools (CCSTAGIS) is the group who had initially planned the coordinated marches across Canada to advocate their anti-trans agenda.
The march has been dubbed the ‘1 Million March 4 Children’ and primarily what they oppose is the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) programs.
These SOGI programs they are opposing were created to keep children safe, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation and serve more as anti-bullying rhetoric than sexual education teachings.
These programs were introduced for the same reason as anti-racist programs were or anti-cyberbullying programs — to keep children safe and have them feel supported in their identity.
Some parents say that they would rather teach this kind of material to their kids at home, but that doesn’t account for the children who do identify as 2SLGBTQI+ whose parents are either actively or passively transphobic and homophobic.
Related:
- Letter to the Buzz: High school teacher speaks out against anti-trans protests in Victoria
- Peaceful counter-protest planned against anti-trans group at BC Legislature next week
There are now two counter protests to the 1 Million March 4 Children planned as those trying to get rid of SOGI programs descend upon the BC Legislature on Wednesday, September 20th.
One counter-protest is taking place at noon and it is expected that the bulk of the 1 Million March 4 Children will be on the Legislature lawn at the same time.
The second counter-protest is at 3:30 p.m. and it is being organized by a trans activist named Belial who Victoria Buzz spoke to about why their peaceful action is important to the trans community, trans youth in particular.
Belial says for some kids, what the 1 Million March 4 Children is trying to take away feels like a matter of life and death and they deserve to not be erased by uncomfortable cisgendered parents.
“[Anti-trans legislation] is a problem for our community and for people who have issues with, like, if someone who has parents who are transphobic or homophobic and having schools being permitted to tell a student’s parents that the student is trans… it could be a huge safety issue for that student,” Belial explained.
To him, the whole movement against gender identity education is ridiculous because its been proven to mitigate bullying and help children who are and aren’t a part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community become more tolerant of their fellow students, peers and queer role models.
Both counter-protests are meant to be peaceful; however, there is concern amongst those going to the Legislature over whether or not the 1 Million March 4 Children will be a peaceful action.
VicPD will likely be on the scene to mitigate any conflict, but Belial said he plans on bringing people along to de-escalate and ensure the law is being followed by those in attendance for the safety of the queer community.
