A dozen teachers from the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association are expected to show up for a rally supporting the LGBTQ+ community at the legislature on Friday.
The rally is one of a series of events across Canada that day to counter what local organizers from the groups 1 Million Voices for Inclusion and Finn’s Future call the “transphobic rhetoric” of a previous 1 Million March for Children, which opposes teaching on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or SOGI in schools.
The teachers will be advocating for SOGI education prior to the noon Celebration of Queer Existence rally.
SOGI in schools has generated protests in B.C., which GVTA president Carolyn Howe said was part of the reason the province recently brought in rules to keep protesters off school grounds.
She said she doesn’t know of any such protests at local schools, but noted there has been “a worrying uptick in very vocal opposition to inclusive practices around gender diversity, both in schools and in the wider community.”
“Victoria schools have queer staff, parents, students and we want everyone in the 2sLGTBQIA+ community to know we stand together.”
She said there several “myths and misconceptions” about SOGI education, which involves teachers making efforts to create inclusive classrooms “where our students feel seen and human rights are protected.”
Howe described SOGI education as including representation of all people during class, perhaps in a story that includes a family with two dads or a word problem in math class that refers to diversity.
“Fundamentally, parents and teachers want the same thing,” Howe said. “We all want safe and supportive environments for students, where every child feels included and human rights are protected.”
Simon Fraser University sociology professor Travers, who goes by only one name, said SOGI education was introduced in schools “on the basis of the recognition there are still ways in which queer and trans students, and queer and trans staff are marginalized.”
Travers said SOGI education is meant to help students feel safe and included, as well as to bring awareness that there is “a natural and healthy range of variations in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The professor said there has been a “very highly organized and concerted backlash” to the rights and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people.
Activities on Friday are set to start at 9 a.m., with GVTA member on site with an information booth from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and the rally program to follow at noon.
Other local groups supporting the rally include the Quadra Village Community Centre, the Foundry, Island Sexual Health and the Victoria Youth Empowerment Society
Howe said the GVTA has arranged for 12 teachers to attend the rally rather than be at school, and she expects others to join them at times during the day.
She said she expects a lot of young people to be there.
“There’s going to be some singing, a poetry reading, speaking and a drag show,” Howe said. “The youth are really taking a lead in the celebration in this way.”
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