Province facing backlash for move toward mandatory pronoun notification in schools

As thousands of kids returned to Alberta classrooms on Tuesday. The government is facing backlash over the province moving toward mandatory pronoun notification in schools. Advocacy groups say the changes are unconstitutional.

“This policy will cause significant harm to students in the province and specifically violate their constitutional rights, their charter rights,” said Bennett Jensen, the director of legal of Egale Canada.

National advocacy group Egale Canada and Alberta-based Skipping Stone Foundation filed a constitutional challenge against a specific aspect of the Education Amendment Act, 2024, formerly known as Bill 27 — specifically the requirement for educators to notify parents if students ask for different names or pronouns at school.

“Bill 27 sets up a situation where, regardless of whether it’s safe to come out at home or not, teachers/educators will be outing students against their will sometimes whether it’s safe or not to parents and that can really expose these young people to either an possible choice of staying closeted or coming out or phasing danger at home,” explained Jensen.

In response to the court case, the office of the Alberta Minister of Education told CityNews, “As this matter is in front of the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”

This is one of a number of policies that the government introduced last October, focusing on transgender people, saying the change would bring more transparency and consistency to alberta classrooms.

“Any student 15 and under who wants teachers or other school staff to call them by a new gender-related name or pronoun would be their parents to be notified and would require their parents’ consent. Students who are 16- or 17-years-old may do so without parental consent but their parents would still need to be notified,” said Premier Danielle Smith.

The new policy took effect on September 1, but one of the lead lawyers on the case said his organization will continue to advocate against it, calling for a school system that welcomes all students, no matter who they are.

It’s not the first time Egale and Skipping Stone have brought the province to court — taking legal action against Bill 26, which would have restricted access to medically necessary gender-affirming care for young people. Those restrictions have not come into effect.