‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Trustee campaign material that condemns rainbow flags is being met with outrage of all kinds, written complaints and, in one case, a cease-and-desist order.

“Parental rights,” including questions about classroom diversity, equity and inclusion policies, are resurfacing heading into school board elections across Manitoba.

“People are trying to advance their politics and their issues while simultaneously calling teachers ideologues and brainwashers,” said Shannon Moore, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who studies sexual health education. “And I find that rich.”

Moore said parents have a right to choose independent school or homeschool, but they do not have a right to dictate curriculum that is currently developed using research and mainstream morals.

The researcher is calling on school and government leaders to do a better job of addressing parents’ concerns and proactively explaining why they teach certain things.

A trustee running for re-election in Steinbach recently deleted a social media post warning about a “trans agenda” after the Manitoba Teachers’ Society sent a legal threat.

The post depicted an artificial intelligence-generated image of a teacher plotting with government ministers to make schools “the gateway for medical transitions, abortions, etc. without parental consent.”

Also in recent days, the City of Winnipeg confirmed it has received multiple complaints about lawn signs bearing a Progress Pride flag that is crossed out with a red X.

They belong to a candidate who has pledged to remove all “sexually explicit” and “pride agenda” material from classrooms if he is elected in the River East Transcona School Division.

“No one is trying to indoctrinate our kids,” said Jenn Kiziak, a kindergarten teacher and mother of two children who attend public school and are enrolled in Grade 3 and 7, who is also in the race for Ward 4.

What teachers are trying to do is graduate students who are knowledgeable about their bodies, respect basic human rights and appreciate diversity, Kiziak said.

“We’re saying that (LGBTTQ+) people exist and they deserve all the rights and all the protections that everybody else does,” she said.

Kiziak said her social media feed has been flooded with fear-mongering and false information about Manitoba curriculum since the province released its new health pilot ahead of the new school year.

She noted that one particular comment about indoctrination has stuck with her because it was made by a parent of a former student who has publicly backed her teaching style and trustee campaign online.

The disconnect “baffles me,” she said.

The comments are in stark contrast to research suggesting more than eight in 10 parents in Canada believe sex-ed should be taught in schools.

A study of 2,000 parents — including 70 Manitobans who had children enrolled in elementary or secondary classrooms in January 2020 — found 85 per cent of them shared that belief.

The research team, based out of the universities of Guelph and New Brunswick, determined support for lessons about sexual consent, safe-sex methods and bodily autonomy were nearly universal.

Eighty-seven per cent of participants from the Prairies identified sexual orientation as a key topic. Eighty-two per cent endorsed gender identity, “our sense of who we are.”

Manitoba’s new sex-ed curriculum requires that students learn about everything from setting personal boundaries to the difference between male, female and intersex bodies.

It was drafted with input from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and Sexuality Education Resource Centre.

At a time when students can easily access pornography and other explicit content on their cellphones, Moore said it’s understandable there’s a lot of anxiety among parents.

“That is all the more reason why we should have comprehensive sex-ed in schools,” the academic said, noting that research shows it saves lives, reduces gender-based violence and combats homophobia and transphobia.

Moore criticized the province for not being forthcoming about the sex-ed contents of its new phys-ed and health curriculum.

“When the government tries to bury some of the content of the comprehensive sex-ed curriculum so they won’t get a public reaction, I think they end up getting more of a public reaction because it seems covert,” she said.

Premier Wab Kinew and Education Minister Tracy Schmidt spoke at length about changes to exercise and nutrition during a news conference organized to promote the curriculum overhaul.

Neither of them mentioned sex-ed at the event — several days after which the education department released 26 documents filled with new learning outcomes about informed consent, puberty and gender identity.

Schmidt’s office indicated the minister will be available to answer specific questions about the wide-ranging curriculum at a later date.

A Citizengo.org petition that calls on the province to pause the rollout had collected roughly 7,000 signatures as of Wednesday evening.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca