Around 20 parents gathered before a school board meeting last week to protest a sexual orientation gender identity (SOGI) policy that’s under review.
The protest was organized by Vancouver-based advocacy group Culture Guard and advocate Laura-Lynn Thompson. Both parties have been actively protesting against SOGI province-wide.
The protesters held signs that read “don’t mess with our children” and “parents have rights” on the side of the road near the Richmond school board and waved signs at cars passing by.
“I think the school board should focus on education, not start ideology wars,” said Jolie Trost, a Richmond mom of two.
Some parents said they don't oppose the policy, but are hoping instead to have it amended. However, they feel that their voice has been ignored.
“The school board received more than 900 pieces of feedback by June 4 and their adjustments to the draft came out on June 8. Did they have time to review all the feedback before the revisions? I doubt it,” said Ivan Pak, a father from Richmond.
However, the Richmond School Board said it has carefully reviewed all the input on the SOGI policy and clarifies that the policy is not about “ideology.”
“In the fall of 2016, the Ministry [of Education] directed school districts to update their District Codes of Conduct to include the addition of wording about gender identity and gender expression,” Trustee Sandra Nixon told the Richmond News.
"A separate SOGI policy is not about ideology but instead will highlight and create safety and acceptance for LGBTQ+ students and show examples of acceptable behaviour.
“It is important to ensure that there are teaching and learning resources for parents, students and staff so that we can create understanding and foster an inclusive climate where LGBTQ+ students feel that they truly belong, and can focus on their learning. “
Nixon said the Richmond Board of Education, the SOGI Policy Working Group and the SD38 Policy Committee carefully considered all of the input provided by its stakeholders and the public to the proposed SOGI policy.
“As feedback was submitted, it was reviewed over the course of the consultation period and was used to inform the revisions that were made to the original draft policy,” she said.
Nixon added that the school board has allotted two hours of listening time to hear from the public at its June 27 public meeting.
Richmond residents who would like to provide a comment on the SOGI policy will have up to two minutes to do so. A sign-up list for speakers will be posted online and will become available at 4:30 p.m. on June 25, according to Nixon.
