Teachers shouldn’t be forced to ‘out’ trans children

Demonstrations over gender diversity and schools are expected across Canada today. Here’s why, Sept. 19 What the anti ‘gender ideology’ protests were really about, Sept. 21

Observing the so-called One Mil- lion March for Children at Queen’s Park this week, it became clear to me that those parents demanding to be told if their children identify as transgender or non-binary want to know because they’d want those children corrected. This is precisely why their kids might not disclose their identities at home, and why teachers shouldn’t be forced to “out” potentially vulnerable kids

I am a gay senior who came out to my mother in my 30s, long after I’d been out at university, had a part- ner, and even co-organized a group for gay Asians. In the 1960s and ’70s, no one dared come out at the Catholic schools I attended in Trinidad and Ireland, and it was only at university in Toronto that I felt the freedom to take on the identity I knew myself to be since childhood.

I didn’t believe my parents would kick me out, but I knew they would be unhappy and possibly angry, that they would worry about my prospects and about what extended family and community would think. I had no sex education. Every conversation about the future in- volved (heterosexual) marriage and children. There was no vocabulary to have that awkward conversation.

Most parents would want to know about something so life-defining as their child’s gender identity. But if young people feel safer to come out at school than at home, it says something about their family life. Children should be allowed to share their identities when and with whom they feel safe.

It was painful to hide my sexual orientation, but being forced to hide one’s gender identity, to face continuous misgendering, would be even more traumatizing. Having it revealed without consent could put one in danger, and a large percentage of homeless youth in To- ronto are queer and trans kids ejected from their families.

The abundance of religious symbols and placards for the People’s Party of Canada at the rally suggests the politicization of this issue is ultimately aimed at overturning the gains made by women, LGBTQ people, and children’s rights.

As one woman roared from the podium, “My children are my property and God’s property.”