The 10-year-old, who is nonbinary, says everyone at school"is really good about gender," but knows not all parents are accepting.
The mother added,"There was one kid that said, 'Hey, I'm not ready to use these pronouns at home yet.'" Fornwald also worries about the changes affecting her own kids, saying it could embolden people to express homophobic or transphobic views. She has another child who is gender diverse."I know a lot of kids that this is going to affect negatively, kids whose families I know and I like. I think of all the kids out there who don't have a safe person at home — hopefully yet. I think some of them could get there.
“If we are requiring school divisions to get parental consent to a half-day field trip to the science centre, I think we need to be treating this issue with the same amount of seriousness," Duncan said."This is different, this is identity," she said."This is something essential, a protected right." Duncan said teachers would be required to address students by their birth name if their parents did not provide consent, something human rights groups say is also harmful.